Paddle to the Amazon: The Ultimate 12,000-Mile Canoe Adventure

Bruce K. Filson was a freelance writer and critic residing in Chesterville, Ontario.

This is the first-person log of an incredible canoe trip: 12,000 miles from Winnipeg down the Mississippi, along the coasts of Mexico, Central and South America, then eventually down the Amazon to the Atlantic. The story is told by the originator and driving force of the journey, Don Starkell. His two sons, Jeff and Dana, completed the crew of the 21-foot fibre-glass Orellana that set out June 1, 1980 and arrived in Belem, Brazil, May 3, 1982.

This must be the ultimate boys’ adventure trip, but we can all enjoy reading the very factual and detailed report. The canoeists survived hurricanes, floods, landslides, whales, bees, crocodiles and huge anacondas. Even more harrowing was paddling the sea, sometimes at night, and sometimes over dangerous bocas (river delta currents), and surviving salt sores, food poisoning and, at times, near starvation. But most horrendous of all were the incidents with people. They were robbed, harassed, roughed up, jailed, and shot at. Meeting strangers was always a gamble. They never knew whether they would be attacked or befriended, treated with scorn and distrust on generously fed and housed.

Although the nagging question of why anyone would do this remains, the psychological demands on father and sons by such an obsessed trip are frankly laid bare and we learn about the native peoples, the cities, and the flora and fauna of the Americas in a way we couldn’t except by doing it ourselves. And — thanks guys — we’d rather not do it ourselves.