What an incredible adventure! Rafting down the Amazon River on a flimsy bamboo raft held together with jungle vine & a few prayers. It’s the ‘Great Amazon River Raft Race’ - the world's longest. Sure I knew that competing would be tough & rafting 142 kms from Nauta to Iquitos is not a walk in the park but I didn’t expect it to be the most excruciating physical challenge of my life.
Imagine a river as wide as a lake, hot sun, humidity, & 4 chicas that had been training on beers & papas fritas…ok so maybe we could have taken pre-race preparation a little more seriously. Day 1 can only be described as torturous & very very long. The heat was relentless, & Irish lass Aoife & I had been out very late the night rocking the bootie in a local discoteca. We were feeling pretty damn crook. Janey had at least slept but had lost her bottle of electrolyte solution at the start line, & suffered from heat exhaustion, vomiting off the side of the raft. After rowing for a grueling 7 hours with little food except a few peanuts, & no finish line in sight, we were finished. I lay slumped across a bamboo pole trying to take a power nap, the others drooped in blue plastic chairs, which we had ‘vined’ to the raft for added comfort. The ‘Blue Princess’ could go no further. When were the coast guards going to pick us up? The raft floated aimlessly in the current & around a bend we went. Suddenly we saw Mecca, nirvana, heaven…our mothership ‘Miron2’ & end point in the distance. ‘C’mon gals lets synchronise, row, row’. Drawing on every last reserve we did it. Day 1 over.
Day 2 would prove to be even harder. 9 sweat filled hours to row 60 km with blistered hands & sun burnt feet, faces & lips. Anyone experienced sunburnt lips before? They swell up like balloons. Not pretty. At least we now had sandwiches to fuel our engines. Over the course of the day we only stopped for 15 minutes to rest, rowing like machines, we powered it home to finish 2nd out of the now 5 international teams. I rowed so hard that when I stood up for the 1st time at the end of the day, I staggered & fell down on the raft. Trying to walk I staggered & stumbled like a drunk & had to sit down again for 5 minutes to get my senses together. A weird sensation to feel so weak. Poor Aoife also stumbling slipped on the river bank & fell on her butt in the mud….mud mixed with shit which we could see flowing in brown rivers from Tamishaku village straight into the river. Nice place to park the rafts. Yuk!
To bed at 8pm again! Too exhausted to socialise & only desiring rest. Not that sleeping is easy when 40 people are sardined together in hammocks in a boat that is legally allowed to carry 18.
Day 3 – whole body pain, heat, blisters, sunburn, swollen fingers that can’t grasp, & only 3 international teams still in the race. I can’t describe how determined we were to finish the race. Constantly needing inspiration we would spur each other on with shouts of ‘synchronise’, ‘power row’, & occasional bouts of hysterical laughter. Somehow we kept going way way beyond the pain barrier. As a cruel joke the finish line was 1km UP the Nanay river. The river was so narrow & the current so strong (had to be a 1st time for a super strong current) that we moved forward inch by inch against the rapids. If anyone stopped rowing, the raft would plunge in the opposite direction. Who the hell put the finish line there?? And why….trying to break our spirits, our already broken bodies, or maybe just to put another blister on the blister.
The all girl vet team came 2nd. Yippee! We didn’t win the prize money which we had planned to donate to Amazon cares (www.amazoncares.org) to save more doggies, but we did complete the toughest raft race ever as a team & it feels so good to know that we are 4 tough gals.
It also feels GOOD to stop rowing, to bathe, sleep in a bed, eat good food, & the endorphins whizzing about my veins…wow! I might even take up sport if it always feels this good when you stop. I just wish my body would stop rocking from side to side.
Read more: www.livinginperu.com/blogs/travel/164
www.iquitostimes.com/raft-race-2006-results.htm
