First person known to walk the entire length of the Amazon River

A Briton has become the first person known to walk the entire length of the Amazon River. Ed Stafford took more than two years to walk 4,000 miles along the world's longest river, starting out in the Peruvian Andes and ending his journey at Maruda beach on the coast of Brazil.

Accompanied much of the way by Peruvian forestry worker Gadiel "Cho" Sanchez Rivera, the former soldier survived on a diet of piranha fish, beans and rice while dodging pit vipers, electric eels, anaconda and scorpions. He was also imprisoned, chased by bow and arrow wielding locals and - twice - wrongly accused of murder.

Since he started his journey at the summit of Nevado Mismi on April 2, 2008, he has also suffered an estimated 50,000 mosquito bites and hundreds of wasp stings. Writing on his blog, the adventurer said: "The endurance, both mental and physical, has been the thing that's been the most wearing.

"I've been quite humbled by how much I've had to rely on other people and I've benefited greatly from the generosity of the people I've met along the way.

"All the messages of support have kept me going - that and the desire to bring life in the Amazon to the wider world."

Just 53 miles short of journey's end, the former captain collapsed "in a state of utter exhaustion".

"I started to fall asleep again whilst walking - the sort of sensation you sometimes scare yourself with when driving utterly shattered.

"Whilst lying down at the side of the road I started to itch furiously. I began scratching frantically but the itching became maddening. I came out in a total body rash and was unable to walk or lie still.

"I feel slightly humbled that my system just decided to shut down so close to the finish."

A few hours later Mr Stafford was back on top of the world. "It's unbelievable to be here!" he said as he walked into the sea. "It proves you can do anything - even if people say you cannot. I've proved that if you want something enough, you can do anything!" The adventurer said he hoped his feat would raise awareness of the destruction of the Amazon rain forest but, he insisted, he was "no eco-warrior".

At its heart, he pointed out, it was simply a grand expedition of endurance. "The crux of it is, if this wasn't a selfish, boy's-own adventure, I don't think it would have worked," the 34-year-old said. "I am simply doing it because no one has done it before."


/Sky News/