(In this Nov. 2008 photo released by Press Contact on Aug. 9, 2010, Ed Stafford, of England, walks through water in an unknown location in Peru during his journey along the Amazon river. After 859 days and thousands of miles Ed Stafford became the first man known to have walked the entire length of the Amazon river. AP)
"It's unbelievable to be here!" Stafford told The Associated Press the moment he entered the sea. "It proves you can do anything -- even if people say you cannot. I've proved that if you want something enough, you can do anything!"
A few hours earlier, Stafford had collapsed at the side of the road, just short of his destination. But upon arrival at the Crispim beach -- and his journey's end -- Stafford looked like he had all the energy in the world, as if walking for 2½ years were nothing as he jumped into the ocean and hugged anyone in sight.
(Ed Stafford walks through Peru during his journey along the Amazon river. While he says he is "no eco-warrior," Stafford told the AP near the end of his journey that he hoped his feat would raise awareness of destruction to the Amazon rain forest — but that at its heart, it was simply a grand expedition of endurance. AP)
While he says he is "no eco-warrior," Stafford told the AP near the end of his journey that he hoped his feat would raise awareness of destruction to the Amazon rain forest -- but that at its heart, it was simply a grand expedition of endurance.
"The crux of it is, if this wasn't a selfish, boy's-own adventure, I don't think it would have worked," the 34-year-old former British army captain told the AP as he sat under the Brazilian sun near the jungle city of Belem. "I am simply doing it because no one has done it before."
(Ed Stafford, of England, right, accompanied by Gadiel "Cho" Sanchez Rivera, of Peru, runs along Crispim beach in Marapanim in Brazil's Para state. AP)
There are at least six known expeditions along the course of the Amazon river, from its source high in the Peruvian Andes across Colombia and into Brazil before its waters are dumped into the ocean 6,760 kilometres away. But those used boats to advance their travel.
Stafford and a British friend began the walk on April 2, 2008, on the southern coast of Peru. Within three months, his pal left. Stafford carried on, walking bits of the route with hundreds of locals he met along the way. Eventually, Peruvian forestry worker Gadiel "Cho" Sanchez Rivera, 31, decided to make the journey with Stafford to the Atlantic.
(Upon arrival at the Crispim beach — and his journey's end — Stafford looked like he had all the energy in the world, as if walking for 2½ years were nothing as he jumped into the ocean and hugged anyone in sight. AP)
Stafford said his journey -- which has cost $100,000 and is paid for by sponsoring companies and donations -- has deepened his understanding of the Amazon, its role in protecting the globe against climate change, and the complex forces that are leading to its destruction.
He said he has seen vast swaths of demolished jungle. "It's the people in power who are benefiting from the extraction of the natural resources here," Stafford said. "That's why there are corrupt politicians and laws that aren't enforced and loads of unconstrained deforestation still going on."
Source: MSN
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