McMurphy - a nut with guts, right Jack!

My whole life I have always been fascinated with the Amazon.  I will not bore you with the details of why now, but enough stars have aligned to allow me to try this adventure.  Those of you who know me well know that one of my top life philosophies is that "at least trying, even if you fail, is better than wishing you had."

This Adventure may very well be beyond my reach. I have no idea at this point if I can find the guides to take me through the Peruvian head waters of the Amazon River (Kimbiri Region to Atalaya).  The type of guides needed are not on the internet, are not in any guide book or advertising somewhere. Even jungle survival camps cannot help direct me to any guides for this region.  I have tried every avenue I know for years to locate someone, and short of being on the ground in the Amazon, there is no real way of finding the right guides willing to take a gringo into very dangerous territory; in addition to animals, reptiles, insects, and plants that want to kill you, the route requires you to go through the red zone (coca/drug cartels/guerillas), areas with a lot of illegal activity exploiting natural resources, indigenous tribes, and just people who do not like gringos. Oh did I mention the dangerous rivers, canyons over twice as deep as the Grand Canyon, mountains, and jungles?  Yet the adventure beckons me to try!

I welcome you to follow me on this blog as I set out to see if this can be done.  The first part of this adventure is to go to Peru and seek out trustworthy guides.  The next part will be the actual travel through the headwaters.  The map on this page shows the typical part of the Amazon that most tourist explore (highlighted in violet).  The green highlight in Peru, is the river system I hope to take: Apurimac, Ene, Tambo, and Ucayali.     

A note to Mom:  I am adventurous, but I will be careful or I will not venture into the hostile areas. Love you!

Una aventura de por vida!