The Amazon from Source to Sea: The Farthest Journey Down the World's Longest River

Fifty-year-old canoe racer-turned-explorer West Hansen is planning to kayak the Amazon River when he learns that everyone - cartographers adventurers even his own sponsor National Geographic Society - has misplaced the source of the worlds greatest river. One of explorations great prizes is suddenly back up for grabs and to claim it all Hansen has to shepherd a team of irascible Texans and international whitewater stars some 4200 miles from the crest of the Peruvian Andes to the Atlantic Ocean. The journey brings him face-to-face with a controversy as old as Livingstones quest for the source of the Nile in addition to the usual obstacles. With great humor and insight Hansen details a wild ride full of personality conflicts extortion Machiavellian subterfuge pirates drug lords uncharted whitewater massive thunderstorms injuries illness fatigue tropical heat blizzards altitude sickness jungle drunks bales of marijuana substandard scotch bureaucratic labyrinths loneliness colossal tides and the unstoppable force of the largest and longest river on the planet.-- Jeff Moag Freelance Writer and Editor former editor of Canoe and Kayak Magazine