5778132
9781599213583
Thirty-two hundred miles, piranha,crocodiles, anaconda, river sharks, blistering and relentless sun,dangerous currents, river pirates and drug runners, and the insidious candiru. Martin Strel swam through it all. Why? To call attention to the continued deforestation of the Amazon rainforest and to river pollution. By the time he finished this epic swim from the river's source in the Peruvian Andes to the delta in the Atlantic headwaters near Belem, Brazil, Martin Strel was almost dead, straining with the remaining shadows of his strength to reach the finish line. His blood pressure was at heart attack levels, his entire body filled with subcutaneous larvae, and he was besieged by dehydration, diarrhea, and exhaustion. Drawn from the eloquent and evocative trip diaries of writer Matthew Mohlke, who, armed with buckets of blood to divert piranha, guided Strel,The Man Who Swam the Amazonis a gripping and inspirational story of perseverance, passion, and endurance: a real-life odyssey of a rare and driven man.Mohlke, Matthew is the author of 'Man Who Swam the Amazon', published 2007 under ISBN 9781599213583 and ISBN 1599213583.
[read more]