Three Men In A Raft: An Improbable Journey Down The Amazon

The titular three men in question are the author, Ben Kozel, an Australian; Colin Angus, a Canadian and Scott Borthwick from South Africa. While Kozel and Angus knew each other fairly well, for Kozel the South Africa was an unknown quantity, although he was a friend of the Canadian. All three men were in their young twenties, and would likely consider themselves thrill seekers. They came across as trying to be risk averse, but I don't really think they pulled that off - there were some genuine risks taken here!

It is am ambitious undertaking, rafting down the Amazon. A journey from source to to mouth: over 7000 kilometres; a journey of five months. Their relatively meagre budget and an inability to convince anyone to sponsor them meant even further challenges with the equipment they could afford. A state of the art raft was their key purchase, given the massive challenge the white water would be, but much of their other equipment was budget or second hand.

Travelling light was also a major factor, especially once clear of the white water, when rowing a raft not designed to be propelled in this fashion, as any unnecessary weight would be burden.

To commence their journey from the source it meant climbing into the Peruvian Andes near the Pacific Ocean. There was some debate as to which source was the most distant from the Atlantic Ocean. To think of the Amazon as a single river is so far from the mark. There are so many feeder rivers, branches and name changes it is a massive challenge to even keep track of it. The river they were on changed its name very often, and at times I resorted to Google Maps to try to figure it all out - without success if I am honest. The map in the book it pretty good, providing lots of town names on the route to allow tracking, even if not the waterways themselves.

Mt Mismi was one of the two likely candidates for source, and Kozel visited the summit while the other two were laid low with illness. However they covered their bases, the other pair visiting Mt Quehishua the following day. From there they hike on downriver as far as Pilpinto, the starting point for the rafting. This was challenging hike for the men, although they were not carrying all of their equipment, just what they needed for the hike.

Thankful to reach Pilpinto, they returned to Lima by bus to collect their raft and other equipment, then set off on the white water. Given their very brief training in white water, and no time with all three in the same raft before, there was a steep learning curve. They met with incidents and challenges and not all went well. The white water on the Apurimac river was well up to the challenge of these three men, two of whom you would describe as rookies; Angus having been a rafting guide.

There is no doubt the white water was exciting, and Kozel does well to keep the pace of the writing up, while blending in the forming of the relationships, building a routine, dealing with complex rapids and laborious portages when rapids were too great a risk.

Once the white water is dealt with, they are pushed by the challenge of getting the raft to the Atlantic. Just beyond the town of San Franciso they convert the raft to a rowboat by erecting a balsa frame allowing redistribution of equipment and a primitive form of rowlocks, converting paddles to oars. Simply drifting down what had become a massive river (and only getting bigger) was not an option as it would be taking far, far too long.

Again Kozel does a pretty good job of keeping the writing interesting through the balance of the journey. Spread through the the book is some light history - nothing heavy, just background. There are plenty of interactions and events to keep the chapters punctuated with activity. Encounters with the Shining Path, and other rogues; night navigation with the large and fast ships transporting up and down river; the army and militias; and then the commencement of their 24 hour rowing programme. Plenty of risks needed assessing through this section - whether they did a good job, or just got away with it is left to the reader.

There can be little doubt they were brave and ambitious, and balanced with that is some risk taking. The reader is left to wonder whether these men would have undertaken this journey if they knew of some of the hardships they endured on this adventure. Kozel says no, but perhaps they would have, as Kozel and Angus team up again for another river journey in Russia shortly after - but that is another book (which I own).

For me, 3.5 stars, rounded down.