Paddle to the Amazon: The Ultimate 12,000-Mile Canoe AdventureIt was crazy. It was unthinkable. It was the adventure of a lifetime. When Don and Dana Starkell left Winnipeg in a tiny three-seater canoe, they had no idea of the dangers that lay ahead. Two years and 12,180 miles later, father and son had each paddled nearly twenty million strokes, slept on beaches, in jungles and fields, dined on tapir, shark, and heaps of roasted ants. They encountered piranhas, wild pigs, and hungry alligators. They were arrested, shot at, taken for spies and drug smugglers, and set upon by pirates. They had lived through terrifying hurricanes, food poisoning, and near starvation. And at the same time they had set a record for a thrilling, unforgettable voyage of discovery and old-fashioned adventure. "Courageous . . . Exciting and always immediate." -- The New York Times Book Review |
Contents
Editors Preface | 9 |
Leaving Home | 13 |
Into the U S A | 23 |
Down the Mississippi | 36 |
Southwest from New Orleans | 55 |
Beaten by the Gulf | 68 |
Picking Up the Pieces | 86 |
A New Start with Gabby | 94 |
Venezuelan Feast and Famine | 193 |
To the Dragons Mouth | 208 |
Interlude in Trinidad | 223 |
Farewell to the Sea | 236 |
Up the Orinoco | 257 |
Struggling to the Mission | 264 |
On to Brazil | 270 |
Down the Rio Negro | 279 |
Out of Mexico | 110 |
Stormy Belize | 123 |
At Gunpoint in Honduras | 128 |
The Nicaraguan War Zone | 144 |
Past the Panama Canal | 154 |
Into Colombia | 168 |
The Evil Coast | 177 |
On the Amazon | 289 |
Journeys End | 306 |
Epilogue | 313 |
Acknowledgements | 315 |
What Happened to the Chaika? | 317 |
Map of Route | 318 |
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Common terms and phrases
afternoon Amazon ashore asked Atures Rapids bank beach began Belém Belize Belize City beneath boat Brazil bugs camp Canadian Cancún canoe Caracas Casiquiare Canal coast Colombia couple Dana's dark dozens drinking equipment boxes feet fish friends Gabby gave guitar Gulf half head Honduras hundred inches Indians Isla island Jeff and Dana jungle La Pesca lagoon Laguna Madre land Last night leave look machete Manaus Mexico miles minutes Mississippi nearly Nicaragua Orellana Orinoco ourselves paddled palm passed Pesca picked Port of Spain pretty Puerto Ayacucho Puerto Cabezas pulled Punta rain Río Rio Negro river sand bar shack shallows shore sleep Spanish stay stopped supper Tama Tama thing told tonight took trees Trinidad trip trying Tucupita Venezuela Veracruz walked wanted waves wind Winnipeg yards yelled