Walking the Amazon: 860 Days. One Step at a Time

This should have been named "A narcissistic moron manages to survive a lame expedition against all odds." He gives no credit to many of the people who helped him, failed to appreciate the very jungle he claims to love, and has no understanding (and no apparent interest in) the local people and how they manage to survive in these remote communities. And then he not only depends on them for food and shelter many times, he EXPECTS it! Still, go ahead and read it because it really is unbelievable ho [...]

The story of Stafford's grueling journey on foot is begging to be told. By someone other than Stafford. He needed a ghost writer. Or a team of iron-stomached editors. Stafford just plain can't write worth a damn.His journey is a fascinating one- but he rarely pulls his head out of his ass long enough to tell the reader anything about the wildlife, the people he meets, or even the scenery. We spend a lot of time inside his head, which is a dank and dolorous place. Stafford is clinically depressed [...]

I remember back in 2013 I somehow managed to get control of the TV remote, doesn't happen often, after spending 15min figuring out controls I found this documentary about a bloke trying to walk the whole length of the . It was insane viewing, I was instantly hooked. On the screen Ed Stafford is great to watch, the real deal, no staying in hotels each night like a certain other survivalist :) Ed's writing though is a bit rough, it doesn't come naturally to him, the beginning parts are slightly te [...]

Three things first1.Its an amazing achievement by Ed (and Cho)2.Ed is not a writer and book is boring (Took me a month to read)3.I didn't learn anything new about Basically its a book about Ed Stafford's journey (or should I say ordeal ) on foot with the river from source to sea.But the problem is that the book is very crudely written and Ed talks about nothing else than what he faces that day.Nowhere I get to know about what is he seeing around.There are few photographs in the book.So this th [...]

The first thing - Ed Stafford is crazy. I want to travel around South America but no way would I do this. Everyone said he'd never make it and he is probably lucky to have survived - floods, infections, hostile people, dangerous wildlife. Not to mention his mental state as he spent such a huge portion of the trip depressed. A monumental adventure and a first in a world where there aren't many great adventure firsts left.I would love to visit a lot of the places he went but I'll take a plane or a [...]

Another book that took me a very long time to read. Let me explain. I went into reading this book with high hopes and excitement. I mean, stories of the and the rainforest, talk about exciting. But, Stafford is not a writer. Sure, his expedition was astounding and the fact that he accomplished it was amazing. And, I definitely want to go travel more in South America, especially in Brazil. But, the same feeling that Ed had about a month before he finished is the same feeling I had when I only ha [...]

A mediocre book about a singular accomplishment. It has the potential to be an epic story, but Ed Stafford can't write for beans. No detail is too trivial to be included, especially if it's what he had for dinner. Getting through this book is a lot like trying to walk through the .And for a book about a trip through the , there's not a lot about the . The river, the flora and fauna, the people who live there, even his initial partner Luke - all are treated as mere obstacles to be overcome. To pa [...]

Ед Станфърд се заема да постави рекорд като първия човек извървял цялата дължина на р. Амазонка пеша и го постига. Ако обаче си мислите, като мен, че да прочетете книга за приключенията му би било интересно, ще останете излъгани. Когато човек, който не разбира абсолютно нищо � [...]

300 pages of how not to behave with cultures other than your own, how not to prepare for an expedition (Step 1: who cares about learning the language? AMIRITE?) and how to annoy everyone in the process. Stafford documents his 4K+ mile journey by whining about everything he encounters (jungle! insects! mean native people! Peruvian music! Peruvian drinks! his traveling companion! his native guide! ALL BAD) and whining about the trip as a whole.This is a mind-boggling account of an expedition leade [...]

Truly epic. Stafford's journey is truly wonderful.I always know it's an adventure novel when I get near the end and feel strong pangs of longing to go back to the middle, to escape in that feeling. This book had that. It has a sort of vivid wistfulness running through it that tangles neatly with the forcefulness of the plot.Of course, Stafford's no D. H. Lawrence. His writing is factual and to-the-point, much like I an imagine him as a person to be. But that's OK - he's not trying to prove anyth [...]

I love to read true life travel adventures including Krakauer, Thesinger, Theroux, Rawicz, Shackleton, Conrad, Bryson, Heyerdahl, etc but this adventure makes many others look like a bird walk in Central Park. From the shores of the Pacific Ocean over the Andes Mountains to the leaking spring headwaters of the River is where this story begins. It ends with a walk through the Basin which includes floods, insects, snakes, mosquitos, botflys, thousands of miles of mud, meals of untold origin, dru [...]

Despite not being a prolific author Ed Stafford has written a great book here documenting the first walk of the entire length of the finished just earlier this year.I thought the primary danger in such a trip would be the terrain, wildlife and risk of infection and disease. Although these clearly were an issue the major challenges that faced Ed were the native peoples and his own mental state. Ed and his fellow walker doggedly dodged drug traffickers (narcos) and battled depression during the 2 [...]

Really good book. Very tough journey walking and wading across the whole of South America in the jungle

Enjoyable and impressive account of a 860 day hike from the source to the mouth of the . Stafford writes better than most of the current crop of 'adventure' writers, i.e. he doesn't feel the need to use adverbs every second sentence or go on and on about the life changing wonderfulness of what he is doing or make unfunny quips etc etc.Have to say I became a little bored towards the end:jungle,mosquitoes, hunger,jungle,mosquitoes, hunger,jungle,mosquitoes, hunger, etc. Not my idea of fun really. [...]

Couldn't put this one down all weekend I found myself scouring the internet for more information on the for days after. Stafford's journey will open your eyes to the power of human will.

ReviewWell, Stafford wrote this book in a similar fashion to how I wrote my Europe Trip blog in 2007: long, very detailed, very wordy, often whiny and petty, with a pretty sad love life. What he didn't do, and what I did, was include some sort of artistic form; no joking Bill Bryson, no lyrical prose, no dreamy or thought-provoking side-stories, just monotonous, detailed explanation and fairly immature sounding thoughts. Immature in that he generally alternates between complaining about people i [...]

ex-uk military guy, kicking around doing adventure tours in bolivia, got a gig in helping united nations do elections in afghanistan (where they were run out of the county) then comes up with an off the wall idea: what about walking down the amazon river? some him and english buddy (world adventurer kayak and mountain climber dude) say yeah, let's do it. they start in pacific ocean in peru, head east, into the red zone, rather lawless area mostly run by shining path and lots of indian land, and [...]

Really, I'd like to give this two and a half stars. On the one hand, it's an amazing story. Walking the length of the river, across the entire South American continent, is pretty damn impressive. Stafford has some great stories about his trip and the planning that went into it. I found it interesting that even though the physical challenge was overwhelming, it was the mental challenges that gave him the most trouble. Boredom, panic, worry over bad decisions that cost time and money, and straigh [...]

It felt like it took 860 days to get through this book! This was an incredible feat by Ed Stafford and his companion Cho but this book is awful. The narrative is choppy and hard to follow, the descriptions of the are meager and fail to paint any kind of picture for the reader, and Ed Stafford himself is really an unpleasant guy.Most of the book is him whining about one thing or another, belittling the people of Peru and Brazil (who are, according to him, feeble minded, fat, drunk and corrupt), [...]

don't read this to find out about the flora and fauna of the rainforest or even much about the local people who live there. What this is is a mind-boggling account of the author's Guinness record walk of the entire area from the Pacific coast in Peru to the Atlantic coast in Brazil. He talks about the pure boredom of walking that far in spite of the dangers and discomforts and how he slowly developed a way to control his mind. He is mostly accompanied by a Peruvian man who becomes a great compa [...]

I'm feeling kind of "meh" about this one, so I'm giving it 2.5 stars. The adventure aspect was interesting, but I often found the author's attitude toward the native people of the areas where he was traveling to be very condescending and at times he struck me as arrogant, but I guess one would have to be somewhat arrogant to even dream of hiking the entire length of the . About two-thirds of the way through the book I started to feel like I was stuck in a "lather, rinse, repeat" cycle, only it w [...]

I read this for our book club this month. I wouldn't have made it past the first couple chapters otherwise. The biggest problem with this book is that it was written by Ed Stafford. The book could have been really good if it had been written by a ghost writer or if Stafford had a VERY heavy-handed editor. As is, this book is basically a walk of depression. It hardly talks about anything interesting (the amazon!), and focuses in depth on how bored/lonely/depressed Stafford is. He hated this journ [...]

This was as exhausting to read as Stafford's journey. Yes he accomplished an impressive feat, but why bother 'walking' the amazon. The first bit, in Peru is more interesting. Once he hots the rainforest that's pretty much it - trees and more trees, what can you do? There wasn't really any character development of Cho or their relationship. The guy's a masochist, not a writer.

3.5 would be more accurate. I really enjoy reading books about a person who makes a huge audacious goal (in this case an nearly impossible goal) and then does it. Stafford's determination in the face of so many setbacks is amazing. And I am quite sure this is something I never, ever, want to do. This book could be more interesting with more facts about the jungle he is walking through and the plants, animals and people who inhabit it, it could also have had a little bit less about how often Staf [...]

I am going to like this book! He is ironic and cusses. Excellent combination.It wasn't as good as I hoped at the beginning. The adventure was amazing. But Mr. Stafford is not a especially good writer. And pretty self involved. Could have used more details on the invironment and the indigineous people and less on his foul self involved moods and bad treatment of his companions.

Totally fun adventure book. This guy is in the tradition of those crazy Brits of the 19th century, who go to far off lands, just for the hell of it, even if it will kill them. Travel for guts and glory. It is a kind of dumb goal, that has not real point. But, goddamnit, he makes it, he walks the whole in two and a half year. The only crazy person to do so.

Ed Stafford's achievement is mind numbingly phenomenal but he should not attempt writing again.

Although I see many people ripping this book to shreds I found it to be very interesting and an uplifting story about perseverance and the importance of mental health in difficult situations. Is it the best writing the world has ever seen? No. But writing is not Stafford’s job, being an explorer is. It’s really disheartening to see people react so negatively to a book that is written from his perspective about what he experienced. Yes, it includes his thoughts and food log because that’s w [...]

Ed Stafford just had the most insane response to an existential crisis. The dude decided to walk the entire length of the river. Sometimes, it is hard to objectively rate a book - do you rate the quality of the writing or the subject? This book is written with great honesty, and is a brilliant account of someone who's embarked on a quest that isn't glamorous, isn't a quick fix. Ed undertakes a journey that kind of forces him to examine and question who he is, how human he is. It is similar to C [...]

This book was absolute trash. I couldn't have read anything more boring and self-centered than this. The author couldn't write worth shit and each sentence felt like it was part of an essay written by a sixth grader who had a c in English. The premise of the book excited me, but it became actual mental work to motivate myself to read the next ten pages, every ten pages, for the entire book. I would not recommend this to anyone, ever, unless they'd like to feel like their brain was degenerating i [...]