walking the amazon, from source to sea

For those who don't know who Ed Stafford is, he is the guy who has been walking the length Amazon River for 849 days since April 2, 2008, to raise awareness of the region. He began his trek at the source of the river in Peru, and was joined in July 2008 by Gadiel "Cho" Sanchez Rivera. The pair are due to reach the shores of the Atlantic on August 9. During his trek Ed has blogged using a laptop and a satellite internet link. You can follow his journey on the Walking the Amazon website . CNN has recently published an article about Ed's adventures.

Ed, 34, from Leicestershire England, has led remote expeditions all over the world. He started running expeditions after retiring from the British Army as a captain in 2002. Whilst not leading trips Ed worked alongside the United Nations in Afghanistan assisting with the first ever presidential elections advising on security, planning and logistics. Prior to this journey Ed was in production with the BBC on their conservation series ‘Lost Land of the Jaguar’. Ed’s passion lies in pushing himself to achieve feats that others may not believe are possible. He is inspired by explorers such as Sir Ranulph Fiennes, Borge Ousland and Mike Horn - all of whom have accomplished outstanding feats of human endeavor. Ed intends to use his expeditions to educate about environmental issues, whilst inspiring people to throw off the shackles of convention and believe that they can achieve their dreams.

I marvel at people like Ed. Sometimes, I wonder if I can do the same, perhaps not in the amazon, but trek across alaska or greenland. One needs the drive and the determination to carry one through, especially when the going gets tough.