The Amazon Express: Source to Sea in Record Time
The Amazon Express: Source to Sea in Record Time
Texan West Hansen is about to embark on The Amazon Express, an expedition to kayak the Amazon River from source to sea in record time.
His most recent update, which can be found on The Amazon Express Blog, has him driving a big van through Lima, Peru en route to the Amazon’s headwaters in the Peruvian Andes.
Hansen, who has been kayaking since his college days, wants to be the first person to solo kayak down the entire, 4,225 mile Amazon, straight from the source, which is called the Apurimac River, to the sea in Brazil, the Atlantic Ocean. All told, the route should take him just under 60 days. (Details on the route here.)
His plan is to do this as quickly as possible so that he can hold the record source-to-sea time. While the expedition is not entirely solo–he has a support team that is accompanying him and will be supplying him–he does plan to paddle the entire journey himself. 
And the journey is a perilous one at that.
According to Adventure Blog, West will be running a number of class IV, V, and VI+ rapids, including a particularly dangerous stretch of whitewater called the Acobamba Abyss.
In addition, West is working with Adventurers and Scientists for Conservation, a group that enlists adventurers to help with the gathering of scientific data. According to his website, he will collect data and samples along the course of his journey.
West will be disembarking on the trip any day now. You can get running updates when he posts them on his blog.
