World Wonderer completes first stage of Amazon adventure!

"It was a great privilege to delve into the personal mind and spirit and see what moves and stops you..." 1st July 2012, saw the commencement of young adventurer Davey du Plessis solo navigation of the mighty Amazon river from its source to the the sea. The estimated 6500 km journey has been broken into three stages. An initial hike to the summit of Mount Mismi (the source), followed by an estimated 800km cycle through the Peruvian Andean Mountains, finalized by an estimated 5700km paddle to where the Amazon meets the Atlantic Ocean in Brazil. The entire journey is directed at a cause relative to the adventure - promoting Individual Empowerment on tackling the many issues faced by the natural world and working in collaboration with the Adventurers & Scientists For Conservation Organisation in collecting visual and research data on the environment traversed through. Davey at the summit of Mismi mountain in the Peruvian Andean Mountains Davey du Plessis faced the Mismi mountain range with no guide, no maps and only GPS way points to provide the general direction of reaching the summit. The 4 day, 60km hike, Davey faced below -10 degree temperatures at night, arrid terrain, pure isolation and total self reliance. The day of summiting, Davey had to navigate his way through 1 foot deep and wide sheaths of glaciers covering the summit peak and due to the self navigation, Davey followed what was thought to be a route to the summit, but was actually a route caused by wind movements through the glaciers, this error resulted in a frustrating false summit of Mount Mismi. With a clear goal of reaching the summit Davey re summited the official Mount Mismi, upon which the official Amazon source to sea navigation commences. The successful summit of Mount Mismi and return to the village of Tuti results in the completion of the first stage of the adventure. Davey is now set up and geared for the second stage of the adventure, the cycle through the Peruvian Andean mountains.   Public research states, thus far, that Davey du Plessis is the youngest and second, to Mike Horn, individual to attempt such an adventure solo. "Despite the frustrations and cold experienced, the solitude provides the platform to really work on ones self. To find your own forms of motivation, rectify any negative and pessimistic inner dialogue and truly trust in yourself and your decisions. It was a great privillege to delve into the personal mind and spirit and see what moves and stops you. Even though it is only the first and smallest stage, in terms of milage, the pure isolation and self reliance provides a great platform into the next stages of navigating the Amazon from its source to the sea." For further info and details on the journey, check www.worldwonderer.co.za.

A Wild Amazon Adventure with a Cause

24 year old Davey du Plessis set off to South America a few days ago to begin his solo adventure across the Amazon. The Amazon project is directed at addressing issues faced by the natural world and working with a notable conservation organization to promote and raise funds towards conservation of the earth and her inhabitants.

The project consists of three stages that will see Davey completing the Amazon River from source to mouth. An initial hike to the 18 000ft Mt Mismi source in the Andean Mountains, an estimated 1 000km cycle along the main Apurimac tributary, through the Andean mountains, and the final 5 700km paddle decent down the Amazon river. If completed, Davey will be the youngest and second solo adventurer to travel the Amazon River from source to mouth, after Mike Horn.

Davey has had previous experience of completing a charitable cycle from Egypt to South Africa, addressing the housing issues faced by rural Africa, working with Habitat for Humanity. The journey took 4 months and covered just under 10 000km, and resulted in the completion of a house built for a family in Tanzania.

Davey will also be collecting research data during the Amazon Source to Sea project for the Adventurers and Scientists for Conservation Organization. The project Davey will be collecting data for is the South American Wild lands and Biodiversity project. Much of the Western parts of the Amazon are largely unexplored and lack current data. Davey’s observations, photos, interactions and descriptions of the local environment, species and people will be used in instrumenting clearer knowledge of the areas he travels through.

We’ll catch up with Davey in the coming weeks to fill us in on his travels

Follow Davey’s adventure on worldwonderer.co.za and on twitter