Comments on: Swimming the Amazon: 3,274 Miles on the World’s Deadliest River http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2008/07/01/swimming-the-amazon-3274-miles-on-the-worlds-deadliest-river/ Tim Ferriss's 4-Hour Workweek and Lifestyle Design Blog Thu, 09 Feb 2012 12:39:38 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Laura K. http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2008/07/01/swimming-the-amazon-3274-miles-on-the-worlds-deadliest-river/comment-page-1/#comment-78904 Laura K. Thu, 11 Nov 2010 19:44:52 +0000 http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/?p=377#comment-78904 Thank you very much for sharing your experience with us, Helmut!! It was very interesting to read about your environmental standpoint and I really appreciate that you took the time to write all this down down for us to understand. Viele liebe Grüße aus Hessen. Thank you very much for sharing your experience with us, Helmut!!
It was very interesting to read about your environmental standpoint and I really appreciate that you took the time to write all this down down for us to understand.
Viele liebe Grüße aus Hessen.

]]> By: Helmut Kloos http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2008/07/01/swimming-the-amazon-3274-miles-on-the-worlds-deadliest-river/comment-page-1/#comment-74655 Helmut Kloos Wed, 29 Sep 2010 05:07:04 +0000 http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/?p=377#comment-74655 I hope I did not bore anyone with that long piece with an environmental bent above but it describes experiences and ideas I wanted to present to the younger generation for some time. Today I want to add a note of caution to all newcomers to the Amazon who are thinking about swimming there. Although the Amazon may not be the "deadliest river" (the Nile south of Aswan Dam has larger and more aggressive crocodiles) it does claim the lives of people unfamiliar with the local aquatic life or who do not have a back-up team in a boat nearby as Martin did. I have not had a chance yet to read the book about Martin's swim, which undoubtedly contains useful information for swimmers, but strongly recommend that anybody interested in swimming in the Amazon talk to the locals first and, ideally, go swimming with them, or swim when going on small boat tours with knowledgable tour guides on board. All the best, Helmut I hope I did not bore anyone with that long piece with an environmental bent above but it describes experiences and ideas I wanted to present to the younger generation for some time. Today I want to add a note of caution to all newcomers to the Amazon who are thinking about swimming there. Although the Amazon may not be the “deadliest river” (the Nile south of Aswan Dam has larger and more aggressive crocodiles) it does claim the lives of people unfamiliar with the local aquatic life or who do not have a back-up team in a boat nearby as Martin did. I have not had a chance yet to read the book about Martin’s swim, which undoubtedly contains useful information for swimmers, but strongly recommend that anybody interested in swimming in the Amazon talk to the locals first and, ideally, go swimming with them, or swim when going on small boat tours with knowledgable tour guides on board.
All the best,
Helmut

]]> By: Helmut Kloos http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2008/07/01/swimming-the-amazon-3274-miles-on-the-worlds-deadliest-river/comment-page-1/#comment-74460 Helmut Kloos Mon, 27 Sep 2010 06:48:17 +0000 http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/?p=377#comment-74460 In April 2010 I swam for only about 10 minutes in the Amazon River, at the confluence with the Rio Negro, during a one-day boat trip from Manaus. Swimming between the relatively cool waters of the Solimoes (the main, westerly branch of the Amazon) and the warmer, clearer water of the Rio Negro felt great. A combination of reading Martin's report, reading about tourists swimming to feed dolphins and realizing that populations living along the Amazonas and its tributaries routinely swim and bathe in this river system influenced my decision to dive in without much trepidation. But my main motivation was to make a statement, namely that the Amazon River is not the deadly river it is made to be in popular discourse but a hugely diverse ecosytem that is a huge carbon sink and with its immense oxygen production the "lungs of the world" that we need to protect. This is all the more important now that more than 150 dams are being planned in the Amazon system, more than 70 in Brazil alone. They will change the ecology of this system forever, most likely for the worse, because the more than 2000 species of fish and many other other aquatic life forms are adapted to the seasonal flow fluctuations in river flow and are unlikly to adapt to lake-like and more stagnant water conditions behind dams. Increasing human populations around those dams and in rapidly sprouting towns and the industries the hydro-dams are planned to power, together with ongoing deforestation will all contribute to degrade the Amazon river system. Brazil's environmental movement is becoming stronger and environmental legislation is gradually being enforced. Nevertheless, some practices, especially dam building without adequate environmental impact assessment, illegal logging and forest burning, all of which impoverish local people and destroy nature will remain a major concern of all persons and organizations fighting to manage the immense natural resources of the Amazon Basin in a responsible manner that ensures their sustainability for future generations. I but plan to write more on rivers as I revisit Brazil and Africa during my retirement years. I am 71 years old and have crossed the half-mile wide Jequitinhonha River in southeastern Brazil swimming, as well as the Nile in Egypt and the Awash River in Ethiopia. My goal is not to set long-distance swimming records but to enjoy rivers (also lakes and oceans) and help manage them wisely. In April 2010 I swam for only about 10 minutes in the Amazon River, at the confluence with the Rio Negro, during a one-day boat trip from Manaus. Swimming between the relatively cool waters of the Solimoes (the main, westerly branch of the Amazon) and the warmer, clearer water of the Rio Negro felt great. A combination of reading Martin’s report, reading about tourists swimming to feed dolphins and realizing that populations living along the Amazonas and its tributaries routinely swim and bathe in this river system influenced my decision to dive in without much trepidation. But my main motivation was to make a statement, namely that the Amazon River is not the deadly river it is made to be in popular discourse but a hugely diverse ecosytem that is a huge carbon sink and with its immense oxygen production the “lungs of the world” that we need to protect. This is all the more important now that more than 150 dams are being planned in the Amazon system, more than 70 in Brazil alone. They will change the ecology of this system forever, most likely for the worse, because the more than 2000 species of fish and many other other aquatic life forms are adapted to the seasonal flow fluctuations in river flow and are unlikly to adapt to lake-like and more stagnant water conditions behind dams. Increasing human populations around those dams and in rapidly sprouting towns and the industries the hydro-dams are planned to power, together with ongoing deforestation will all contribute to degrade the Amazon river system. Brazil’s environmental movement is becoming stronger and environmental legislation is gradually being enforced. Nevertheless, some practices, especially dam building without adequate environmental impact assessment, illegal logging and forest burning, all of which impoverish local people and destroy nature will remain a major concern of all persons and organizations fighting to manage the immense natural resources of the Amazon Basin in a responsible manner that ensures their sustainability for future generations.
I but plan to write more on rivers as I revisit Brazil and Africa during my retirement years. I am 71 years old and have crossed the half-mile wide Jequitinhonha River in southeastern Brazil swimming, as well as the Nile in Egypt and the Awash River in Ethiopia. My goal is not to set long-distance swimming records but to enjoy rivers (also lakes and oceans) and help manage them wisely.

]]> By: K.C. http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2008/07/01/swimming-the-amazon-3274-miles-on-the-worlds-deadliest-river/comment-page-1/#comment-66741 K.C. Thu, 27 May 2010 17:29:29 +0000 http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/?p=377#comment-66741 great story and just shows that we are all capable of doing exceptional things if we remove ourselves from the our everyday ruts. The only problem is the depression that comes when you return home and find the same old boring things taking place. thanks for the write up. great story and just shows that we are all capable of doing exceptional things if we remove ourselves from the our everyday ruts. The only problem is the depression that comes when you return home and find the same old boring things taking place.

thanks for the write up.

]]> By: How I Swam 5.25 Miles in the Open Ocean http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2008/07/01/swimming-the-amazon-3274-miles-on-the-worlds-deadliest-river/comment-page-1/#comment-61500 How I Swam 5.25 Miles in the Open Ocean Tue, 12 Jan 2010 21:29:42 +0000 http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/?p=377#comment-61500 [...] Hey, 5.25 miles is along way, but it’s not as difficult as swimming the Amazon River. [...] [...] Hey, 5.25 miles is along way, but it’s not as difficult as swimming the Amazon River. [...]

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