The Amazon Express: Andes to Atlantic Adventure

Photographs by Erich Schlegel/zReportage via ZUMA Press

The Amazon river has a newly discovered source. Completed last year and led by West Hansen and documented by award-winning freelance photographer Erich Schlegel, this is the first expedition to paddle from the furthest source of the earth's largest river to the ocean.
The Amazon carries more water to the sea than any other river, and accounts for approximately one-fifth of the world's total river flow. The expedition route began at Lago Acucocha, 13,120 ft. high in the Peruvian Andes and descended the Mantaro River. Previous expeditions have followed the Apurimac River as the Amazon source, but with simple internet mapping, the Mantaro River was found to be 50 miles longer, depending on the time of year.
The 4,225 mile journey took the adventurers through the Amazon’s notoriously tough Class III-V rapids, followed by 3,800 miles of downriver sea kayaking. And just to make things a little harder there is always the threat of pirate attacks on the lawless stretches of the river in Peru and Brazil. (zReportage)

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