I had a look at the blog's early jungle phase July08
He does speak of going 35km + in a day but mentions that this was on good track and "spanking new logging roads". The reporter dropped the reference to that in preference to "dense and difficult terrain". Tracks and dirt roads are often mentioned.
In fact for much of the jungle phase he travelled intelligently, avoiding jungle bashing where possible, using trails tracks and roads or floating down river on his inflatable raft or in dugouts. It's amazing how wide the Amazon is so far upstream.
Lots of stops in villages and towns and the occassional hotel treat. The Andean phase looks wonderfull
I just had to clarify this because i think it detracts from his achievement.
He did not float down the river in his raft AT ALL. He may have crossed the river in his raft but even if he went a tiny bit too far down stream, the rules stated that he must back trek to the point exactly perpendicular to where he crossed and walk from there.
I am sure thats what you meant to say anyway
taken from the official site:
Couldnt you just use your rafts to float down the river?
Sometimes weve needed to cross the main channel. To avoid accusations that Ed is navigating any part of the river by boat, if the main channel of the river is crossed in a hand-paddled craft, Ed has to return to the point perpendicular to the point where he entered the water on the other side, and continue walking from there. This rule is designed to stop any use of the rivers flow to advance Ed in a craft.