Team 16 International Adventurers Race Report
EMA 2001
Amazonia Nov 25- Dec 1
David
Primus Kristel
Chiqui
Cyprus
England
Guatemala
Thursday 22 Nov
Team gathered at Amazon Lodge
Hotel in Santarem, Para. (Race HQ for EMA).
Weather was hot and humid;
temperature 100 F. Hotel overlooked the River Tapajos. News was received that
Pharminex, one of the pre race favourites would not be competing due to lack
of Sponsorship, however there were still a further fifty three, four persons
teams entered. We were all in good spirits and looked forward to racing
together. We assembled our mountain bikes and gathered together our compulsory
equipment, which was checked out by the Organisers. We also handed in copies
of documents pertaining to our abilities in first aid, rope-work and
white-water canoeing. Strangely there were no practical tests to be
undertaken.
Friday 23 Nov
Another hot and sunny day,
there had been no rain in the area for two months. Team attended a pre race
photo and film interview session. The interview session served to reinforce
the strengths of the team, the common goal being to complete the race and
enjoy interacting with the local population and have fun. It was amazing to
hear how similar our thoughts concerning the race were. Following the
interview we went to a local dressmaker to have our team patches sewn onto to
our rucksacks and clothes. We were not sure what clothes we would wear when
racing and as there were a limited number of patches we decided to attach then
with Velcro. Team cycled into Santarem to visit Internet Café and collect
last minute supplies, these supplies included a number of rubber duck rings to
attach to our pack for the swimming stage. After dinner we took a night swim
in the hotel pool.
Saturday 24th
Nov
Organisers issued each team
with an Emergency GPS, Emergency Beacon and a Satellite Phone. We handed in a
selection of medical supplies as part of a social project; these medicines
were distributed to the villages’ and farms along the route. We had a buffet
lunch in hotel prior to the race briefing.
There were a number of
speeches following, which each of the teams was introduced and the maps and
route instructions were issued. Pre
race instructions advised us that the course would start with a 300m swim
followed by a 12K sail, 32K trek and 80K cycle. All equipment boxes and bike
boxes had to be packed, ready for load out by 2100hrs.
Teams were given an option on
sleeping on ferryboats for the night or catching a bus to the boats at
0400hrs. We opted to catch the last bus at 0400hrs. We returned to our rooms
where Kristel and Primus the two Navigators plotted the route, whilst Chiqui
and myself completed our packing. Once the route was marked up Chiqui and I
checked the co-ordinates. The map scale was 1:100,000 so there was not too
much detail to go on.
We retired to bed for the
last comfortable sleep for a week.
Sunday 25th Nov
- D Day
We woke at 0300 and had a quick buffet breakfast before we boarded the last
bus to take us down to the port where the ferries were waiting. Some teams
opted to sling hammocks on the lower decks; we decided to settle down on the
top deck. The starting point for the race was some five hours away down river.
The Amazon was some six miles wide, more like a sea than a river, with quite
large waves. 
We arrived near the start point just before 1000 hrs, and could
see a fleet of local canoes with there sails set awaiting for us. The ferries
offloaded us by running their bows up onto the mud; whilst we waited our turn
to get off the pink dolphins, which gathered around the boats, entertained us.
The race start was under an inflatable arch set up on the beach, on the was to
the start we took the opportunity to test how our packs floated with out
rubber ducks, although Chiqui opted for a tiger rather than a duck. All seemed
well and we got a good laugh from our fellow competitors and the press.
Prior to the start a team hug
– to the
1100hrs guns fires and we were off; jogging towards the water as we reached
the water we lowered our packs in and commenced swimming towing them behind.
300 metres did not seem a long way however the river Curua was flowing quite
fast and before long we were being swept into Amazon. 
Primus took over my pack
and Kristel took over Chiqui’s as they were both strong swimmers, they drew
ahead and Chiqui began to drop behind, I slowed to stay with him but it became
obvious were not going to reach the other side, as we had been swimming for
nearly an hour. A rescue boat threw Chiqui a line and then turned and threw me
a line; we were then towed back to the start line. Once back on the shore,
amongst about a dozen others, we made our way upstream, we kept on walking
trying to judge the best place to try again, some tried too soon and were
swept away a second time, others just kept on walking. Eventually we spotted a
stick in the mud and settled on that as our starting point, on the opposite
side were a few trees, we used these to guide ourselves at a 45-degree angle
to the current. The second swim took a lot out of us but we succeeded and set
of in search of Primus and Kristel. They had had their own adventure with
Primus ending up towing all four packs, then loosing one.
We eventually gathered
together around our local canoe and launched into the Amazon, thankfully still
in the race with only two or three teams behind us. The sailing proved to be
quite easy, steering by using a canoe paddle jammed against the stern. We made
good progress as we tacked our way north across the Amazon to Cuieiras,
overtaking three or four boats on the way.
We dragged the boat up the beach and checked in at CP3. Cuieiras was a little
hamlet we brought a bottle of coke at the bar and gave away one of the rubber
ducks to a local child. We spent a few minutes drying our feet and taping them
for the trek that lay ahead of us. Our plan had been follow the Amazon until
its junction with the Rio Gurupatuba River, as we would have easy access to
drinking water.
We set off along the shore in
good spirits, with two teams just ahead of us; it was easy going on the
sun-baked sand although it was quite hot.
One team came running past us, we caught and passed them a little
later. After about some 10K we met up with a local on horseback, who showed us
a more direct route to Monte Alegre, our next CP. We headed inland, towards
the lakes, we had been advised not to swim across them due to Alligators. As
we were walking through the shrubs, I felt a stinging sensation on my legs; it
turned out it was ants on the foliage. Primus also got bitten and decided to
change into long trousers. Night began to fall as we made our way past grazing
Water Buffalo and through clumps of trees with trailing lianas. Bats appeared
and at one stage, one landed on Kristel’s neck. We put on our headlights and
later another team caught up with us, then they disappeared behind us. At
times it was difficult to find a path and we were beginning to run short of
water so we were started to head back towards the Amazon when we saw lights
ahead, so we headed towards them hoping they would have some water to spare.
We arrived at a small farm and were made welcome, given water and told that
the first teams had passed through some four hours earlier. It was suggested
that we followed the river until we arrived opposite Monte Alegre, which was
on the opposite side of the river around a corner. We set off once more
spotting the lights of another team in the distance behind us.
Along the river-side we
passed a number of houses each of which offered us water, the last one also
offered Ice. Primus took some Photos of our hosts. Once around the corner we
had to cross two rivers, they were not deep but there was a danger from
Stingrays so we shuffled our way across, using our trekking poles to clear the
water ahead of us. Just short of Monte Alegre we stopped on the path for a
fifteen-minute break. We were a little confused when we arrived opposite Monte
Alegre, as we could not make out the marker buoy where we were to cross, and
there was little sign of life on the other side. We donned our lifejackets and
lit up our light sticks and with our headlights on swam across the river, as
we neared the shore Kristel spotted a snake, which helped to speed us on our
way. We climbed up a slipway and arrived at PC4 at about midnight. We dried
off and assembled out mountain bikes, got something to eat before deciding to
rest until first light . One day down six to go.
Monday 26 Nov
- Day 2
Started off over the
cobblestones, which were damp from overnight mist at the beginning of a hill
Kristel slipped off her bike. We climbed up through the town seeking the route
423 leading via Menejo to Laguino. We passed the bus terminal, asking
directions, eventually catching up with a motorcyclist, who guided us onto the
correct route. Once clear of the town, the paved way changed to a dirt track,
although the sand was quite firm. The road was mostly undulating with few
bends so that we were able to maintain quite a good speed. Kristel began to
feel ill; her blood sugar levels becoming unbalanced, so we stopped at a small
farm to ask if they could boil some water. Far from offering water the family
offered the whole team breakfast, rice fried eggs and lots of sweet coffee; 
whilst our meal was being prepared we rested under a tree shaded from the
morning sun. It was an hour or so later that we set off again, the sun became
hotter and although we drank water every fifteen minutes, I began to become
dehydrated, due to the amount I was sweating, I reached a stage when I did not
want to eat or drink, however Kristel forced me to keep drinking and the rest
of the team took some of the weight from my pack
to make things easier. The day wore on with us stopping for ten minutes every
hour or so for food, water and a rest. By lunchtime we reached Mulata and were
able to purchase Guarana (local energy drink) that was really good.
Later we made a left turn
onto route 254 and the route seem to improve, we made frequent stops for water
or cold drinks and after passing through Sao Jose, we were resting by the road
when one of the organisation trucks drew up and offered us iced water which we
gladly accepted. Revived once more we were able to increase our pace and soon
arrived at PC5, which was set up at a road junction where an alternative route
joined the main road. Shortly after this we arrived at PC6, where the EMA
organisation had built a small village with Electricity and accommodation for
the press. There was a restaurant on site, together with showers and toilets
and our equipment boxes. The next stage involved a jungle trek and as many of
the leading teams had become lost we decided to remain at the PC and sleep in
our hammocks until dawn, after taking showers to refresh ourselves. Team
spirits were good, no navigational errors so far, no major worries and the
pace seemed to be about right.
Tuesday 27th
Nov –Day 3
Before setting out on our
trek we handed in a pack containing food and compulsory equipment for the
white-water canoe stage, this pack was transported by the organisation to
PC13. We also made a decision to transfer to the Adventure Category, although
we had time in hand, the team goal was to complete the race and many teams
ahead of us were struggling with the conditions. The morning was fine and dry
and once we had crossed the Rio Maicuru, by bridge, we picked up a track
heading northwest in order to join the river further up. The track became
narrower and more overgrown and butterflies surrounded us at times, eventually
we approached the river valley and spotted some houses on its bank. The plan
was to follow the south bank to PC7, which was a crossing point. We reached
the river to find our way blocked by the river Perdidos. Whilst looking for a
crossing point we found the carcass of a horse/mule. Once more we prepared to
swim and as we did so another team appeared, they watched with interest as we
swam across but for 
some reason did not follow us. Once we reached the other
side we scrambled up the bank and began bushwhacking, following the river,
knowing that there was a path coming in from our left. Occasionally we had to
back track when we got too near the river. The path when we joined it zig
zagged its way beside the river, climbing up and down around outcrops of
rocks.
Quite suddenly we emerged in a clearing where local farmers had burnt down
trees and we eventually paused for a ten-minute rest sitting on tree stumps at
a workers hut. The next few kilometres, the scenery was the same, burn and
burning trees, then up ahead I spotted a herd of stampeding cows, I warned the
others to be prepared to take cover, however Primus decided to play Chicken
and continued walking towards them, the cows then slowed and ambled past.
Shortly after this I called a halt to inspect my feet, I had a blister
developing, so I did some additional taping. We continued on reaching PC7
having covered some 16K. We were offered fresh fruit, before setting off to
cross the river, Primus and Kristel, opted to wading/swimming to cool off,
whilst Chiqui and myself moved a little upstream and waded across in knee-deep
water. There was a family sitting in their
garden the other side and they offered us oranges and also said we could pick
other fruit from their trees. We rested a while, drying our feet and were
joined by the Portuguese team, who also had competed in previous Elf races.
The race leaders Nokia arrived, having completed an additional 30K in order
abseil down a large waterfall as part of the expedition race, they were
thirsty so we gave them some purified water.
The three teams left the PC
together once again following a track near to the river, we were heading for
PC11 Climb/Abseil, whilst Nokia were heading for PC10. After about 8K the
paths divided, Nokia headed downhill and the Portuguese decided to stop for
the night in a convenient shelter. We decided that we would continue through
the night to get the climb out of the way. Our night navigation was put to the
test and despite some feelings that we did not know exactly where we were we
reached our objective “Thanks Kristel”. The climb was steep and slippery
at times, Kristel and Chiqui revelled in the conditions having trained
climbing Volcanoes’ in Guatemala.
PC11 was perched on the side
of the hill. We learnt here of a change of plan, the abseil was closed. Primus
and Chiqui were to Jumar to the top, Whilst Kristel and I followed a trail; we
would meet at the top then all return via the trail.
Kristel and I set off
traversing the rock face before climbing up a steep path with the aid of
ropes, we then arrived at a plateaux, where a Helicopter landing strip had
been marked out. We knew we needed to go higher, but were unable to find a
path, eventually one of the organisers appeared and fixed a light stick to a
tree to mark the path, before guiding us to the top. We joined up with Primus
and Chiqui and rested a while, even in moonlight the view was good looking
across the jungle, in daylight it would have been fantastic. We decided that
we would return to the path junction at the bottom of the hill and then find a
place to sleep for the rest of the night. Some time later we got to the bottom
and stopped to refill with water, there was nowhere suitable to sling our
hammocks so we set off along the trail. We met up once again with Nokia who
were now heading for the climb. We continued along the trail for another
couple of hours, before coming across an abandoned hut, where we slung our
hammocks for a few hours sleep. We were just settling down when to our
surprise we saw lights coming down the path, It was Nokia, they had missed the
turning to the climb and had walked around in a circle for two hours. Once
again we gave them directions.
Wednesday 28th
Nov - Day 4
We set off as dawn broke, the
trail being quite easy, heading towards PC13, the transition to Canoeing. We
had not gone that far when we met up with two teams and a medical unit with a
mule. It was team Athena (Karina's team, Karina was a member of Team Compaq
last year) apparently Joe had been taken ill and their radio phone did not
work, so they used the other teams radio, whilst Karina made her way to the
next CP for help. The medics lifted Joe onto the mule and we all set off
together eventually arriving around Lunchtime at the Airstrip.
We rested in the shade and
refilled our water bottles and were also given a plate of rice and chicken by
the Organisation. We were to use inflatable ducks (no not the rubber rings)
for the white water section and we had to carry these and our packs a
kilometre through the jungle to the river, this was difficult and strength
sapping, in the end two of us carried the packs whilst the other two carried
the ducks one at a time to the waters edge.
We loaded up and checked that
everything was tied in and were off, the water was flowing quite gently and it
took us a little time to become acquainted with how they manoeuvred. Chiqui
and Kristel led the way with myself and Primus following. We wended our way
down the right bank of the river, with other teams just ahead of us, when they
got stuck, we found alternative ways through, all was going well we passes
through CP14. We approached the first of the major rapids and it looked as if
it was ride able, so Primus lined us up, we passed Kristel and Chiqui, too
late I spotted a log blocking the chute!
There was a gap to left, to which we headed, my half of the duck got
through, however Primus was tipped out and we were both in the water, we
bumped our way through holding onto our paddles and swam into an eddy to
survey the situation. Another team had followed us down and suffered the same
fate. We frantically signalled to the others not to try it. Kristel and Chiqui
got out then released their unmanned duck, which we collected for them. This
rapid was a major hazard and many teams were lucky not to suffer injury. Sara
Odell(Team APN) was pinned against the log for some time before struggling
free.
The next set of rapids was
impassable so we spent a lot of time carrying the ducks around and over the
rocks, sometimes lowering them through tethered by rescue lines, it was a hot
and hazardous time. The rest of
the day, passed quickly with no major problems, occasionally we got hung up on
a rock or in shallows but made good progress. Evening approached and a camera
crew in a duck who were also heading for PC15 joined us, they kept us company
for a bit before dropping behind. We eventually spotted the lights of the PC
and decided to go no further as the next rapids required a portage, which
would be difficult in the dark. I opted to sleep in the duck, whilst the
others settled down on polythene sheeting. During the night two other teams
arrived, although I did not hear them.
Thursday 29th
Nov - Day 5
Once again set off as dawn
broke, made our way to the top of the rapids, Kristel Scouted ahead, there was
a waterfall, however we could ride the first section and stop in a large eddy.
Kristel and Chiqui, set off and stopped at eddy, we followed, just before we
got to the eddy the front of the duck hit a rock and we pivoted around heading
backwards towards the falls, Kristel and Chiqui came out to help but it was
too late we jumped over the side, Primus grabbed me to see if I was Ok and
shouted for me to catch a passing rock, I missed the first but got the second,
Primus swept past and grabbed my legs, then crawled over me to safety, I then
crawled out with my paddle, Kristel was safe as well, not sure what happened
to Chiqui. We had got out just in time two metres from the edge. The two ducks
had gone over, ours was floating in an eddy about 500 metres downstream, whist
the second one was trapped against a rock. I headed downstream to retrieve our
duck and look for lost paddles and gear, leaving the others to retrieve the
second duck. I swam across, into the eddy and then dragged the duck ashore to
assess the damage. The pump and repair kit were missing, along with my
trekking poles, my rucksack had been pummelled by the water and bust open, so
my climbing gear and headlamp were also lost. The waist strap, which secured
it, was hanging on by a thin strip if material.
Major Calamity “Clarence” a veteran
adventure-racing crustacean was missing from his pocket in Primus’s
backpack. I searched around and recovered some water bottles and also a paddle
belonging to Nokia. Meanwhile Kristel was freeing her duck.
Unfortunately we lost one paddle, so when we set off again, Kristel and Chiqui
each had a set of paddles and Primus the strongest paddler paddled me. Faced
with a long day on the water things did not look to good, from time to time we
tried towing, which worked with limited success. My job was to keep
everyone’s water bottles full and treated with Iodine. When Primus needed a
spell so he could eat or stretch, I took over the paddling. We did however
make quite remarkable progress and were soon approaching the last waterfall
beside which PC16 was placed. The portage here was easy, with flat rocks to
walk 
over and an easy slope and stepped rocks to the lower level. Once afloat
again we paused to photograph the falls. The river for this final section was
very shallow and when passing through the shallows we needed to place our
weight on the sides of the duck to avoid it dragging across the bottom of the
river. Coming around a bend I spotted a bus passing along a ridge in front of
us, we were nearly there, two bends later the bridge was in sight, with many
of the locals bathing in the water, we made our way past them, landed on a
beach and carried the ducks into the PC arrived 1500hrs.
Ready for Stage two.
Stage two was to be 110K
Cycle, followed by a 60K sail. Priority for us was to get some hot food inside
us so we repaired to the restaurant, excellent scrambled eggs. Two stages to
go, our goal was within reach. We had to leave PC18 the sailing stage by 0900
Friday, so we needed to cycle through the night. We set up our bikes, checked
lights and batteries, and loaded food for two days. Primus and Kristel checked
and updated the maps and we were off around 1600.
I was keen to cover the
maximum distance we could during daylight, knowing I cannot see well at night,
however it was necessary to pace ourselves, the first part of the route was
the road we had arrived on, we then turned off at what had been PC5,
The road was undulating but
generally downhill and we made good speed as we headed towards the next road
junction at Cazula, here we turned right heading towards the next junction at
Encruizilmada, darkness fell and our pace dropped, the road crossed a number
of streams and following one near miss and one crash we adopted a rule that we
would stop at each bridge and walk across to avoid jamming our wheels in the
holes in the planking. During the
dark hours we stopped ever hour to 90 minutes for 10 minute food/water/rest.
Shortly after leaving Encruizilmada, a convoy of film vehicles passed us
taking night action pictures. We reached the edge of the Serra Grande and
began a steep decent, I was following Chiqui and whilst reaching up to switch
on my light lost control, I somersaulted over the handle bars still attached
to my foot straps landing on my head ******** I heard Kristel say don't move”, I had no intention to, once the stars cleared, I slowly
checked I was ok. My bike seemed ok so I remounted, only to ride into a hole
and fall off a few yards further on. Primus proposed a 45-minute recovery
stop, so we moved to the side of the road, I took my damaged helmet off and
discovered a cut on the side of my head, to which Primus applied some
ointment. The team took my pack and its contents leaving me only with my
Platypus stuffed inside my shirt for water.
We set off again I followed
Chiqui closely as he guided me over the smoothest part of the track he could
find, progress seemed painfully slow, at times when the others stopped I
continued slowly on knowing they would easily catch me up. The ground began to
flatten out and my confidence returned we paused near some lakes, about 10 K
short of our destination. The last few kilometres seem to go on for ever,
Kristel and I drew ahead of the others, we reached the top of a small hill and
there before us were the lights of the ferryboats and the PC. We paused
waiting for Primus and Chiqui, who had stopped on the other side of the hill
to adjust their loads not realising how close they were. We rode together to
the checkpoint arriving about 0330.
Our bike boxes were on a
ferryboat moored outside another one, as Primus boarded the first one he
slipped off the gangplank taking his bike with him, luckily he did not injure
himself. We passed each of our bikes down to him and set off to find our
boxes. There was not much room free to pack our bikes but soon the chore was
done. I had a good look at my helmet for the first time, virtually a quarter
damaged or missing. I had been lucky. We hoped to get away in the local canoes
at 0600, however by the time we had settled down we decided to be ready for
0700. I sought out the doctor, who cleaned up my head wound and then settled
down to rest.
Friday 30th Nov
– Day
I woke at six, no wind, I had
some breakfast then went to find our boat amongst the others lined up along
the river bank. There was a muddy, slippery path close to the water, so I
decided to walk along the top of the bank then made a path down through the
rushes to our boat. I checked everything was ok
then went back and checked my food and water whilst I waited for my team-mates
to awake. A bus arrived carrying teams
who had not completed the cycling; they had been moved forward to the final
stage. Chiqui awoke suffering from Tendonitis in his wrist, so went off to
have it strapped, meanwhile the wind began to rise.
When we went to check out at 0725 the timekeeper’s keeps had lost our
passport so we set off without it. The first leg of the sail was down a narrow
channel and we together with another team quickly pulled clear of the pack.
The wind was virtually behind us and as we left the shelter of land it
increased in strength, and it became necessary to tack downwind rather than
risk a gybe because the canoe paddle did not provide over leverage to prevent
broaching. Once on the open water the current was flowing in the opposite
direction to the wind creating large waves, which threatened to swamp us. We
lowered the sail and attempted to paddle but the current was too strong so we
hoisted it again. I looked across at the other boat Primus Da Mata which had
headed towards an island, in time to them swamp. Shortly after this a wave
came over the side and in seconds we were in the water. I swam to the bows and
lowered the sail then started to collect water bottles and equipment, which
had not been tied in. I was starting to work on the sail to put a reef in when
a rescue boat appeared. They took us aboard and towed the boat into the
shelter of the island. I was annoyed with myself but determined to continue.
Kristel was shocked and upset, however she had got me this far now I had to
get her and the rest of the team to the finish. Team confidence was at an all
time low. I suggested we reef the sail to make it more manageable, however the
rescue team said it was ok as it was and we would be sheltered from the worst
of the wind. They did however offer us a local canoe paddle to make steering
easier.
We emptied the boat and loaded up again heading for
PC19, which was downwind. Now the current and wind were going the same way so
the waves were smaller. The PC was in a small bay, so we made a decision not
to enter but land at the entrance where some other boats had beached. I
explained to the team that we need to reef the sail, Other teams had tied off
parts of the sail, however I wanted to 
make the whole sail lower, so we took
the sail off the mast and rolled it around the boom thereby lowering the
centre of effort and making the boat more stable. I was pleased we were all
working together again. Kristel went to see what the conditions were like on
the other side of the island whilst Primus, Chiqui and myself worked on the
sail. When Kristel returned she reported it was calmer the other side, so she
and Chiqui walked the boat along the shore
and around the spit to the other side whilst Primus and I carried the
mast and sail.
The wind was now blowing 35-40 Knots and the rescue services were being hard
pressed, they advised us to keep close to the shore then follow the ferries
across towards Santarem, if we crossed to soon the current in the Amazon 5-8
Knots would sweep us down river. We hoisted the sail, it looked good, but one
end of the boom stuck over the foredeck, so Chiqui needed to take care not to
be knocked overboard. We set off, I requested everyone not to move without
telling me as we had only a little freeboard. Primus sat in front of me
tending the sail, with Kristel between him and Chiqui in the bow. The boat
picked up speed and we soon caught and passed Primus Da Mata, we kept to the
edge of the Amazon out of the current, we could see many sails scattered along
the other bank, downwind and behind us. Kristel Offered to buy me a bottle of
Gin if we passed the port of Santarem without mishap.
Primus Da Mata and ourselves
seemed to be the only ones on this side of the river, we were evenly matched
and we were to continue together to the finish. When we reached the point
where the ferries crossed, I decided we need to continue, as the course they
took, we could not sail, so we continued up the Amazon until we had nearly
passed the Rio Tapajos, then we aimed for the spit of land separating the two
rivers, balancing the wind and the current we traversed the river where the
waves were up to two metres high, it was exhilarating, if a little daunting as
we were two small boats in a very large river, slowly but surely we inched
towards the land mark cranes of the port. The waves began to subside; we were
across the Amazon heading towards the beach at PC20. I could see the relief on
Kristel’s face. We made our way across the Tapajos, passing the Amazon Lodge
hotel, we nearly sailed passed PC20 had it not been for a young boy who called
out to us.
The wind began to drop and we
shook out our reef, speed dropped and the team started to paddle, darkness
fell, the full moon arose, illuminating the boat following, a dolphin jumped
out of the water, what a beautiful
scene.
We were on the final leg,
time passed slowly,
and I handed over the helm to Primus to take a little rest, as my fingers were
numb from the strain of steering. A little later a beach blocked our way, we
landed to seek a way across, there was none, merely a boat with a party going
on, we were tempted to stay and join in, but no - we must finish the race. We
rounded the spit of beach and set course for Carapanari beach, the finish
line. This proved an elusive place to find and we spent an hour tacking
backwards and forwards fighting the current, eventually we landed to find that
we had to drag the boats up a small river for a kilometre to reach the finish.
Another small boy guided us, as it was very shallow, we were greeted by a
dreary dirge played on a harmonica. We joined up with the team Primus Da Mar
and crossed under the finishing arch together time 2225hrs. 131 hours of
competition behind us.
Mission
Accomplished, I cannot describe the feelings, three years of racing, fifteen
years of dreaming, at last my team had finished an expedition race.
The team was justly proud
of our achievements:
11th Overall
across the line.
6th In Adventure
Category.
Awarded a prize for being the
Friendliest Team.
First ranking finish for
Athletes from Guatemala.
First finish for a Cyprus
based Athlete.
I would like to thank my
team for their effort and support:
Kristel for her excellent
navigation and dare I say mothering, also for arranging jungle training
sessions in Peten, Guatemala.
Primus for his navigation and
being a tower of strength throughout the race.
Chiqui for his guidance
during the night ride and his urging to keep moving, also for arranging white
water canoeing in Guatemala prior to the race.
Kristel and Chiqui’s
families for their hospitality in Guatemala.
The team was formed for this
one race but I would be proud to race with them, or support them in a future
race if the opportunity arose.
Photographs by www.fotosite.com.br
and David Ogden
Links.
www.ema.com.br
http://www.corridasdeaventura.com.br/emaonline
