VIDEO: Adventure Paddling in a Primal Forest

May 19, 2015

“In the rain forest, no niche lies unused. No emptiness goes unfilled. No gasp of sunlight goes untrapped. In a million vest pockets, a million life-forms quietly tick. No other place on earth feels so lush...” — Dianne Ackerman

Here at TRAK we are as concerned with the reckless deforestation of Amazonian rain forest as we are about plastic waste choking our oceans. But just as water has its own cycle of regeneration, the jungle too is teeming with new life that sprouts out of expired, decaying vegetation. In fact, every square inch of the Amazon basin is bursting with that life force – from exquisite flowers growing in air to giant floating lily pads, steeple-like trees to bird-sized butterflies, and even pink dolphins.

"Now we start our trek, a walking tour, down a wooden bridge trail deep into the forest. Our guide is a wealth of information, calling out specialty plants – what they are and what they offer as we walk through. We see trees that have medicinal purposes, one called “Sucuba" that stops bleeding – and if you pull the bark and boil it, stops diarrhea when ingested. We look overhead and hear howler monkeys screaming! Now at the end of the trail there are giant lily pads all around (the flower only comes out at night). Upon our trek back to the boat, a beautiful spider monkey is spotted just hanging out, watching us! The landscape is very green with lots of vegetation, owls and all kinds of birds: parrots, blackbirds, egrets, limpkins and our favorite, the "lily trotter” or jacana." – Valerie Morris, extract from the adventure travel diary, "Brazil - A journey down the Rio Negro and adventures in the Amazon Rain Forest"

The Brazilian rainforest is nature on parade and theres no better way to experience it than from the waterways that feed it, the lifeblood of the jungle itself. Our portable performance kayaks make bucket list trips like this possible. They can be checked-in at the airport but you’ll also set-up, set-off and dip your paddle into the Amazon river with confidence, heading into the dense jungle.

The kayaks assemble in 10 minutes. They paddle like a hard shell but give you the intimacy of being in the water with a skin-on-frame boat. The hull fabric is virtually impenetrable. An aerospace grade aluminum frame gives you the security of a rigid, solid cockpit.

“You can never step into the same river for new waters are always flowing on to you.” — Heraclitus

"We paddle on in our TRAK kayaks. They maneuver very well and are the only way to travel in a rain forest. After about two hours we are out of the very dense canopy and into a large channel. I had to move away from the grassy area and more into the main river area as the tons of dragon flies buzzing about were making me a bit crazy! Now, while taking in the marvel of it all, parakeets start flying right by me, just a foot from the top of the water – then low and behold just twenty feet away, a dolphin jumps out of the water as if to say, “I want to play” – a greeting splashed right at me. I’m enjoying the playful dolphin while hearing so many sounds of tree frogs, parrots, parakeets, howler monkeys and then think to myself: "I’m sitting here on a weekday away from work and the rat race, in the middle of the Amazon, paddling the Rio Negro in my bright yellow TRAK, experiencing this wonderful adventure!" – Valerie Morris, extract from the adventure travel diary, "Brazil - A journey down the Rio Negro and adventures in the Amazon Rain Forest"

An expedition to the mighty Amazon promises a rich adventure travel experience, where the jungle meets the water, and where two mighty rivers converge...

"Really cool to see the dark water meet the light water. The Rio Negro-Columbia head waters part and join the Salomoes–Peru headwaters. The Rio Negro runs at a slower rate of 2.5 km / 1.5 miles per hour and the Salomoes faster at 8 km / 5 miles per hour. The Rio Negro has tannic acid which causes it to have fewer mosquitos, be dark in colour and is about 29 degrees C / 84 F with 700 species of fish. The Solomoes is about 22 degrees C / 72 F and has about 1300 species of fish." – Valerie Morris, extract from the adventure travel diary, "Brazil - A journey down the Rio Negro and adventures in the Amazon Rain Forest"

There’s a line literally created by different colored waters, at this confluence of the Amazon and the Rio Negro rivers, stretching for miles. Our kayaking adventure begins on the other side of that line…

Enjoy the video: