Canoeist Survives Underwater Gunfight On Amazon River

[Glenn MacGrady]

“The cool thing about Chimborazo,” explains Bathgate, “is if you measure from the center of the Earth to the summit, it’s the farthest distance from the center of the Earth on the planet.” That’s because it’s located right on the equator, which matters because the Earth’s equatorial diameter is greater than its polar diameter.

John Bathgate was submerged beneath his attacker’s boat when he realized he’d been shot through the shoulder. His expedition partner, Ian Roberts, was still up above somewhere, along with the gun-wielding pirate.

. . . he and Roberts are planning to return to the river in November 2024 to finish the expedition

Canoeist Survives Underwater Gunfight On Amazon River

John Bathgate was shot twice—here's why he's going back to finish the expedition.

paddlingmag.com

 

[JohnSand]

Seems like a bad spot for a vacation.

 

[Alan Gage]

“We’re hoping we can maybe generate some kind of interest from TV because the fear of going back out there is going to be very real,” says Bathgate. “If we can get television involved, we’ll have a bigger budget to pay for a guide and armed security local to Brazil. That would make things much easier. We’re going to be genuinely afraid going back out there.”

Pretty crazy story. Definitely not a trip I'd be interested in.

The original idea of a couple guys wanting to do this big trip seems ok. Adding TV, more people, guides, and security would seem to take the authenticity right out of it.

It seems to me the allure of paddling such places should be precisely because of the difficulty, remoteness, and danger. I'm sure it still won't be a cake walk but, I don't know, it just seems kind of pointless then.

Alan

 

[memaquay]

Darn pirates! I've run into these guys once in a while.