Great Amazon River Raft Race 2008
Trip Start
Oct 22, 2007
1
9
11
Trip End
Oct 27, 2007
Iquitos, Peru
Friday, January 25, 2008
The 10th annual Great Amazon River Raft Race 2008 begins on September 20th and ends on September 22nd. Paddlers must be in Iquitos no later than the 19th, but the organizers promise plenty of partying and interesting activities for days before and after the race. I recommend arriving no later than the 16th to get acclimated, to learn raft building design, and to study the current.
The four most important elements to competing at a high level in the Great Amazon River Raft Race are; raft building design, learning to read the current, endurance, and being prepared. Beyond competing at a high level these four elements are important for your pleasure. We will consider each of the four elements in detail in a future post.
The Great Amazon River Raft Race is organized by the Amazon Rafting Club in Iquitos. Just so you know it will not be easy their motto is, "The faint of heart need not apply". The official blog site for the race is; The Great Amazon River Raft Race Blog. If you would like more information you can leave a comment on this blog, or on the Amazon Rafting Club Blog. There is always a crew needing one or two more members to complete. That could be you, or if you have enough wild friends, bring your own crew to the jungle.
When you go to their blog and read the comments you will see that Mort Capan, leader of the Over the Hill Gang and oldest person to complete the Amazon Raft Race when he was 74, two years ago says, "I hope my record stands because...I will have to put together another crew and recapture it." That sounds like a bit of a challenge. So far this year it looks like the oldest peddler will only be 71 years old, so Mort can relax, till next year. The other end of the age spectrum will be a group of high school seniors. Like competing in a marathon, some are happy to be able to walk all the way. This race is difficult. Most of us believe finishing the race is winning.
You will also read that the Brotherhood and Sisterhood from the UK are entering several teams. They are groups of young men and women that enjoy using high profile adventures to raise money for their favorite charities. They are going to help promote a non-profit Rock Concert, the "Rumble In Da Jungle", to raise money for Peruvian Children's Charities. They recently set records for crossing the English Channel to France in dragon boats. When you read more you will learn about several other teams with plans about how to use the Great Amazon River Raft Race 2008 to raise money to help those less fortunate. I think that is a great idea for you to consider also.
I have been sworn to secrecy about the specifics, but there are rumors of celebrities on rafts and celebrity spectators on cruise boats and their accompanying entourage and the paparazzi. All those telephoto lenses reflecting behind every palm tree will not be bird watchers.
The Beauty Versus the Brawn on the Amazon
From what I have learned about the Brotherhood and the Sisterhood, they will try very hard to win the Great Amazon River Raft Race 2008. A problem they will have to over come is no international teams have ever come close to beating the local native teams. Do I think the Brotherhood and Sisterhood will beat the native rafters? Naaaahhh, but I hope they push them hard! What about you? Do you think you can out paddle, and out raft the Brotherhood and Sisterhood crews? Before you answer that maybe you should know that some of their members have rowed across the Atlantic Ocean, sailed around Antarctica, won silver and gold in the Dragon Boat World Championships, completed the longest canoe race in the world,...and that is just the Sisterhood. The Beauty versus the Brawn on the Amazon should be a lot of fun for everyone.
Dawn on the Amazon ,Great Amazon River Raft Race 2008, Iquitos Peru, Brotherhood, Sisterhood
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