It's somewhat ironic that Ed Stafford became the first person to walk the length of the Amazon, from its source to the sea, while I was lounging around in Tuscany.
Of course, he didn't complete the whole walk while I was on holiday. He started on 2nd April 2008 and finished on 9th August 2010. He was walking for EIGHT HUNDRED AND FIFTY NINE DAYS! That's equivalent to over 600 holidays in Tuscany, but that's such a bad comparison I should be banned from blogging for even mentioning it.
Perhaps the only downside is that all of the credit will go to Stafford, much as Edmund Hillary is credited as the first man to scale Everest, when no doubt dozens of Nepalese guides had done it before, and local guide Tensing accompanied him on his particular ascent. Accompanying Stafford on most of his walk was Gadiel "Cho" Sanchez, a Peruvian forestry worked who joined Stafford in August 2008 - five months into the expedition.
This is a magnificent accomplishment for both men, and I look forward to the book, the documentary, and the tee-shirt.
The only downside is that "Ed Stafford" doesn't sound as swashbuckling as "Sir Ranulph Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes", that other prolific British adventurer and long-distance trekker.
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