Paddle to the Amazon
In 1980, the author and his two teenage sons embarked on a canoe trip from Winnipeg to Belem, Brazil, where the Amazon meets the Atlantic. One son, discouraged, returned to Canada from Mexico, but Starkell and his other son went on, completing the trip in two years. Traveling 12,000 miles on rivers and open seas in their 21-foot canoe, they encountered every conceivable obstacle--wild animals, hostile natives, near-starvation, terrifying ocean weather, arrest, robbery, illness and despair. They also met many sympathetic people who encouraged them and helped them survive. Starkell's story, in diary form, focuses on contrasts between wilderness and civilization, poverty and luxury, suspicion and trust, depression and elation. It is a curious account of the world observed by two people with minimal supplies depending on their wits and the good will of strangers as they brave the forces of nature and the vagaries of people in unfamiliar countries. Author tour.Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.