First day, from Guanay to Tomachi on the Kaka River
This first day was very full. It started at 7 a.m. as I finished packing my backpacks. I prepared my hiking bag on one side and my dry bag on the other. The waterproof space is designed to hold the essentials if I have to leave the boat in a hurry.
Benjamin prepared breakfast while Fabien trimmed the boat's points for better aesthetics, and I heated water for a maté. On this particular day, we were going to be very happy to drink one before the day's excitement.
I took care of the last logistical details: trying to withdraw money, buying some fruits and vegetables, and picking up our laundry.
A departure ceremony was scheduled for 10 a.m., and we had to load all our belongings onto the army's lancha (motorboat) that was accompanying us.
The ceremony finally began at 10:45 a.m., Bolivian punctuality, and lasted 30 minutes. I realized how important this expedition and this historic moment were for the villagers, as they liked to describe it. A little over 20 years earlier, another expedition, Kota Mama III, had departed from this town.
We took turns answering questions from the local press and taking photos with the people who came to celebrate our departure.
At 11:30 a.m., the long-awaited moment arrived: departure. We were about to start navigating this river through the Amazon, testing our equipment and our boat in real conditions.
Fabien, the captain and project leader, made a very smooth start by going against the current and then turning to gradually enter the flow. The lancha went first to open the way and show us the difficult passages, and the zodiac with the divers brought up the rear to support us if needed.
We went through the first rapids, which allowed us to test our boat and navigation in these conditions. We used the motor to get through these rapids for better reactivity in case of danger.
The landscapes are magnificent. On each side of the river, the mountains rise steeply, covered in thick tropical vegetation, occasionally revealing massive whitish rock faces.
After 2 hours of navigation, we stopped on a sandbank because the lancha had an engine problem. We stayed there for 3 hours because the engine had seized due to a cooling issue. So, a new engine was brought to us by land so we could leave again.
An hour later, while passing through a rapid at a fork, we took the wrong side and, while maneuvering to go back up the current, we lost the rudder... Fabien had the right reaction to ask the zodiac to try to find it. As for us, we were stranded on the bank and got off the boat to pull it against the current. The lancha reached us, and we finally coupled with their boat so it could tow us to a calmer sandbank.
Once there, we collected ourselves and reinstalled the rudder, which the soldiers from the zodiac had managed to retrieve. More fear than harm!
We arrived in Tomachi around 6:30 p.m., where we set up our first camp. I was surprised by the depth just a few meters from the bank when I got out to moor the boat.
I took great pleasure in cooking outdoors on a wood fire and a rocket stove made by the soldiers the day before our departure.
On the evening's menu: pasta with a sauce of squash, locoto (a mild Bolivian pepper), onions, bell peppers, oregano, accompanied by guacamole and corn grilled over the wood fire.
Second day, from Tomachi to Puerto Pandon
I woke up a little before my 6:30 a.m. alarm. I took the time to start summarizing yesterday's events before packing my things and my tent. Benjamin handled breakfast and made us porridge, which is very practical for travel because the ingredients don't take up much space and it's very nutritious. Making it tasty and flavorful isn't the easiest, but it was certainly a success this morning!
We broke camp at 8 a.m. after finalizing some adjustments and packing our gear. The day promised to be intense with many more rapids and numerous passages near mines.
The morning started calmly; we rotated through the different stations: helm, rowing, lookout, and motor. During a rapid, we went over a shoal (over a large rock), which caused one hull to shift relative to the other. We stopped a little further down to adjust the rowing station and the motor mount.
We hit the river again and, after a sharp turn, just when we thought we were out of the woods, an electric wire appeared out of nowhere, stretching across the river. We didn't have time to avoid it or react in any way. We hit it with the boat's mast and tore it down as we passed. More fear than harm, but it could have been worse...
We took a break to wait for the zodiac, which had gone in search of food, and the lancha, which had stopped near a village to repair its engine (again). During this break, villagers, whom we didn't have the pleasure of meeting, offered us lunch through the land team.
We resumed our journey through these landscapes that remained mountainous. The rock changed color to a reddish-ocher, the forest disappeared from the riverbanks, a victim of deforestation, giving way to grasslands or banana fields. But what predominated were the gold mines of all sizes. These are mainly large dredges that, from the river, dig into the riverbanks to extract the precious metal.
To hold their position, enormous steel cables cross the river, and we clenched our teeth every time we had to pass under them, usually at the entrance to a bend and a rapid, which complicated navigation.
We arrived at the campsite at 6 p.m. with the relief of being able to conclude this day of navigation.
Once moored, everyone got busy organizing the boat, setting up camp, or preparing the meal. The soldiers, having arrived a little earlier, had taken care to light the fire and choose the camping area.
Once again, the starry sky was splendid, although the nearby village generated some light pollution. It's so pleasant to be outdoors and be able to cook on a wood fire right on the ground.
On the evening's menu: quinoa wok with broccoli, onions, carrots, plantain, garlic, ginger, anise, soy sauce + green bean salad + toast with black garlic cheese and artichoke spread.
Third day, from Puerto Pandon to Torewa
After packing all our things, we went into the village to have the breakfast that a resident had kindly offered to make for us the previous evening upon our arrival.
After tidying the boat and making a few adjustments, we were ready to leave. On this stretch, we had fewer rapids to navigate, and the current was weaker.
We started with the motor to adjust the rowing station, which we hadn't had the energy to deal with the night before. Fabien and I installed foam for more comfort and an elastic band to test the automatic return of the skateboard seat.
The adjustments are very comfortable and have reconnected me with rowing.
We finished the Kaka River at its confluence with the Alto Beni River to enter the Beni River. The landscape opened up quite quickly, and we passed many farms. The mining operations, on the other hand, decreased.
While we were back on motor power, we stalled several times for no apparent reason. We took a break on a bank before a bend to look into it. Several hypotheses were put forward, but we needed time to confirm or deny them.
We continued without Fabien, who had boarded the lancha to be dropped off at a strait where they were waiting to film our boat with a drone.
On both sides of the river, cliffs several hundred meters high stood, ocher-orange in color, sacred to the local peoples, with some of their walls engraved.
We rowed through this canyon forged by the power of the water that rushes into it.
As we approached a rapid, the motor became increasingly temperamental and refused to restart. We rowed through it and then moored ourselves to the pilot boat, which towed us for a few hours.
This gave us time to prepare a meal on the boat for the first time!
On the lunch menu: mixed salad with green cabbage, red onions, carrots, garlic, cucumber, black olives, fresh cheese in oil with candied garlic, mustard, lemon juice, and olive oil.
For dessert, pineapple and papaya allowed us to end on a sweet note before resuming rowing.
With this break, we were also able to think about our engine failure, and it turned out to be an oil sensor putting the engine in safety mode. We disconnected it long enough to check the oil level when it was cold.
Towards the end of the day's journey, we saw many tree trunks washed up on the sandbanks. From these, a multitude of young shoots were emerging. I was amazed by nature's ability to recreate life in environments that seem very inhospitable.
We stopped opposite a magnificent mountain that was tinged with red, pink, and orange at sunset.
Tonight's menu: pasta with mushroom sauce, textured soy, locoto (a bell-pepper-shaped mild pepper), onions, garlic.
We took the time to reminisce about the day and to check our energy levels after these first three days of navigation, all under one of the most incredible starry skies I have ever seen.
Fourth day, from Torewa to Rurrenabaque
This day is the last of the first part of this long journey. It is a bit special because we must arrive at precisely 4 p.m. at the Buenaventura port captaincy for a welcoming ceremony.
So we broke camp quite early to have enough time to cover the day's 45 km.
While we were navigating peacefully, the lancha and our boat got stuck on a patch of rocks that we hadn't anticipated.
First, we pushed the lancha out of the water, then our boat, with which we set off again, getting ahead while the lancha finished freeing itself completely.
We are enjoying rowing more and more; it's becoming a real pleasure, although there are still improvements to be made to this station to make it even more enjoyable. Notably, we need to change the bearings on the skateboard, which serves as our seat, because they are completely shot, and we have already lost several ball bearings...
Also, the footrest needs to be moved lower to allow for a greater range of motion and more force to be deployed.
We stopped for lunch in the village of San Miguel del Bala after passing through another magnificent canyon in the rain.
This community, close to Rurrenabaque, is used to welcoming tourists. We were first greeted with coconuts, from which we drank the water and tried our hand at opening them. We managed to keep all our fingers and savor the precious liquid as well as its flesh.
We then headed to the village restaurant to enjoy a fried tujuno (an Amazonian fish) served with plantain and rice.
It was with full stomachs that we resumed our journey after weaving through branches stuck in the bottom of the riverbed.
We arrived a little early on the outskirts of Rurrenabaque and stopped on a small beach to wait for the first journalists to arrive. We played and chatted with the village children.
The green light was given, and we got back on our boat, heading for the port captaincy. The journey was done by rowing, surrounded by the press boat.
Upon our arrival, we were surprised by the scale of the welcome reserved for us.
We performed our maneuver after slightly overshooting the area where we were supposed to moor to allow the people present a good view of the boat.
Upon our arrival, a gangway was brought and placed on the boat to allow us an easier exit from the vessel.
The brass band started to play, and the audience applauded us. We went through a series of handshakes to greet all the naval officers.
After the first photos, the welcome speeches began. We were greeted by the mayor of the Buenaventura municipality, who presented a letter of honor to all crew members.
This was followed by some interviews with the journalists present and some photos with the people who came to welcome us.
We were honored by the warmth of this welcome and by the formality of the ceremony, to which we were not accustomed.
We are being housed in the port captaincy for the entire duration of our stay to handle shopping, repairs, and improvements.