The Poverty Jet Set

Man Swims the Length of the Amazon

One of my new almost heros (almost, since I have not yet, in fact, read his famous book The 4-Hour Work Week), Tim Ferris just posted an interview to his blog with Slovenian marathon swimmer Martin Strel who became the first man to swim the entire length of the Amazon river. Yeah, that’s 3,274 miles, folks.

Choice scary quote:

Q: What were the biggest challenges you faced on the Amazon swim?

A: …Piranhas, snakes, spiders, candirú, bull shark or other animals which make unpredictable attack; you have to be ready all the time if any piranha attack you. We had some buckets of blood ready in case of emergency, to distract the piranha and get them away from me if necessary…

…Peeing; I didn’t pee into the water straight as this attracts a very dangerous fish called the candirú, which lodges up human orifices with a razor-like spike and then sucks your blood. I was peeing all the time through the wetsuit…

Choice awesome quoted quote (from a book about the adventure):

An expedition is 95 percent misery and 5 percent ecstasy. After three weeks of constant motion in a land far way from home, something strange occurs in the sould of a man. He gets broken. The first symptom is a tired or sick feeling, maybe even some fear and a little helplessness. Loneliness. Then something slowly changes within. The old attachments start to fade and he becomes completely present. He forgets about all the crap that keeps him up at night back home. None of it matters anymore.

Tags: adventure, amazon, distance, martin strel, swimming, tim ferris, travel

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 2nd, 2008 at 3:02 pm and is filed under adventure, books. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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Audrey 07/02/2008 05:16 PM 1 point
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WOW. i have heard about those little fish that swim into your bits and take over. they are like science fiction fish, but real! scary! this man is must be crazy. i can't wait to read the book! have you ordered it yet?

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mike 07/04/2008 02:25 AM 1 point
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Love that quote :) it's perfect.

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http://projectpedal.com

Whimsy 07/05/2008 12:20 PM 1 point
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There was a Brazilian gentleman--possibly a local constable of some sort--who was found dead on the banks of an Amazonian tributary with a revolver by his side. Apparently one of these tiny candiru catfish got into this man, who knew that he had to cut off his penis in order to survive. Instead, he chose to shoot himself.

Missionary reports have episodes in which an Indian would scream, run out of the water and promptly cut his member off.

Makes ticks seem downright quaint.

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http://www.lordwhimsy.com

BradyDale 07/07/2008 12:10 PM 1 point
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This is the most messed up thing ever. I wrote about it a while back. This guy is a nut.

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hilz 07/08/2008 05:27 PM 1 point
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Rivers are terrifying to me. (Most rivers.) And in general, don't you think? Their snaky motion through a land, carrying ominous portents from one place to another, they suck up the bad juju and deposit it somewhere else. Like that high school movie A River's Edge. ("Wanna see a dead body?") It would have been far less scary if it had been called An Ocean's Edge or even A Lake's Edge, though lakes are second in command in terms of scariness, in my opinion.

I think I am talking mostly about Eastern and Midwestern rivers here. The big and slow ones.

I've never seen the Amazon, but its fabled dangers are enough to make me nightmarish. This guy is crazy, which is, of course, irresistible!

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Mark 07/09/2008 03:39 PM 1 point
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Thanks for the comments, y'all. These are all great!

@Mike - totally. I bet you know that feeling!

@Whimsy - youch.

@BradyDale - yes, indeed.

@Hilz - I didn't know you were afraid of rivers. Didn't you ever go swimming with us in the Delaware? I could have sworn...

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http://thepovertyjetset.com

annie 07/17/2008 11:50 PM 1 point
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Dammit. I've gone soft. If it came down to Darwinism, this dude would slay me. Need to get back on the work/life balance see-saw!

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http://pikpr.blogspot.com

lautaro 07/22/2008 04:00 PM 1 point
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excelente pagina!!

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martialarts dummy 07/23/2008 12:37 PM 1 point
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How often do you yourself swim and what stroke or do you just write about it?

Can I ask though - how did you get this picked up and into google news?

Very impressive that this blog is syndicated through Google and is it something that is just up to Google or you actively created?

Obviously this is a popular blog with great data so well done on your seo success..

Swimming greats you should write about next, my ex was an olympic swimmer!

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