River Rafter Recounts

Amazon adventurer to give talk

Australian adventurer Mark Kalch will give a talk at London’s National Geographic Store this month on his epic rafting journey down the Amazon River from its source in the Peruvian Andes to the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Brazil.

Kalch and his remaining team mate became only the 7th and 8th people ever to achieve this feat when they completed the 153 day, 6,800km voyage in February 2008.

Among the challenges facing the team were "losing a [third] team mate to an unknown illness, tropical storms, a myriad of tributaries and channels, freighters, oil tankers, bandits and 24-hours-a-day rowing." However, Kalch reveals that these were offset by "the beautiful and generous people" they met and stayed with on their descent of the river.

The presentation will include over a slide show using animated maps and video clips with audio. Technical equipment used on the expedition will also be on display. Kalch lives in London and has devoted the last 12 years of his life working towards becoming a professional adventurer and explorer. Previous exhibitions include walking the length of the Omo River in the isolated Omo Valley in Ethiopia, trekking in the Andes of Peru and through dense jungles in East Africa and exploring deserted tropical islands off the coast of Australia by sea-kayak.

This autumn he plans to walk solo and unsupported from the very north of the Islamic Republic of Iran to its most southerly border in the Persian Gulf. Kalch says that his goal is to see the real Iran, to dispel the negative view of the country perpetuated in the media and by governments. “I travel there to live amongst its people, journey through its amazing geography and experience what was, once upon time, the greatest empire on earth.”

Mark Kalch will speak at the National Geographic Store, 83-97 Regent Street London, W1B 4EW on Tuesday 27th October 2009 at 6.30pm