In tribute to Peruvian Pro surfer Gabriel Villaran catching waves on the Vilcanota River, we bring you six of the best white-water wayfarers from around the world…
Ever since ISA World Surfing Games champion Gabriel Villaran saw a YouTube video of static surfing on the Zambezi River, he knew we wanted a piece of the action. Along with fellow Peruvian, kayaker Leo Gonzales, an expedition was made to the magical city of Cusco where waterways link the Andes Mountains to the Amazon Rainforest.
Villaran jumped in the Vilcanota River with his surfboard under his arm and immediately started doing what he does best, catching waves. The static waves, created by strong currents hitting rock formations within the river, allowed Gabriel to realise his dream of surfing in the Sacred Valley of the Inca Empire.
Fitzcarraldo
100 years earlier in Peru, rubber baron Carlos Fitzcarrald dreamed of building the world’s finest opera house in the town of Iquitos. The fact that Iquitos is located in the middle of the Amazon Basin was an obvious stumbling block. But undeterred, he decided to raise funds for the project by buying a steamboat to transport rubber back to civilisation from a plantation deep in the jungle.
‘Fitzcarraldo’ soon realised that it was impossible to sail a 30-tonne tanker through the Rapids of Death so he instead decided to take the boat overland. The audacious scheme was met with disaster at every turn and ultimately ended when natives destroyed the vessel. Fitzcarrald’s epic expedition was turned into an award-winning movie by German filmmaker Werner Herzog.
Ecomotion
As the Amazon River flows out of Peru and into Brazil we find ourselves in Ecomotion territory - the back-to-basics test of orientation. We’re talking no GPS, no pedometers and no night vision, just an old school trek through some of the world’s most inhospitable terrain.
Ecomotion has featured legendary Brazilian stretches of water such as the Sao Francisco, Parana, Rio Doce, as well as the Amazon River. Anyone brave enough to take part in Ecomotion will not only have to get to grips with a kayaking paddle but also master orienteering, mountain biking, rope skills, caving and trekking. Before you chicken out, there’s one more thing to tell you, the last time Ecomotion took place the first team to complete the 430km trail split a prize of $17,000.
Heart of Darkness
Ever had a bad experience abroad? We all have and the best way to deal with it is to let your frustrations out. However, not everybody can do it quite like novelist Joseph Conrad. After a miserable spell in Africa as a river boat captain on the Congo, Conrad returned to England and wrote Heart of Darkness. The book tells the tale of a crazed ivory trader with delusions of god-hood and the boat captain sent to bring him back to ‘civilisation’.
In his book, Conrad exposes the brutality of colonial rule in Africa and highlights the injustices taking place many miles away from home. The only thing in the novel that escapes Conrad’s wrath seems to be the Congo River itself.
Steve Fisher
The modern-day African waterways are the domain of one man; Steve Fisher. The world-champion kayaker turned full-time adventurer first got his hands on a paddle at the age of six. Young Steve learnt his trade on the Bushman’s River that flows through his hometown of Estcourt in South Africa. Since then, Steve has mastered all the big-name rivers in the continent including the Zambezi, the Congo and the Nile.
Steve’s kayak has also taken him all over the world and seen him getting to grips with locations such as the Irrawaddy in Burma, the Salween in China and the Yarlung TsangPo in Tibet. Steve has tackled the tide in over 50 countries and is currently working on a new project in Minnesota.
Big River Man
As intrepid and impressive as the other entrants on this list may be, they simply don't come close to the determined (and, yes, crazy) explorer, Martin Strel.
As documented in the excellent 2009 documentary Big River Man, the Slovenian long-distance swimmer swam the entire 3,300 mile length of the Amazon River, between February and April 2007, despite suffering from heatstroke and bacterial infection. His training regime comprised of copious amounts of alcohol and lots of sausages and, aside from the occasional bouts of exhaustion and madness, he tackled his challenge in an incredibly laid-back manner. What a hero!
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