据《每日邮报》报道，英国探险家爱德·斯塔福德花了859天成功徒步走完了亚马逊河，成为世界第一人。

       据了解，英国前陆军上尉斯塔福德以秘鲁丛林作为他冒险的起点，沿途经过了秘鲁、哥伦比亚以及巴西等国。巴西的一名林业工作者也曾加入他的冒险旅程。这段旅程十分艰辛，他戏称曾被蚊子叮咬5万次。尽管据测量亚马逊河只有6437.3公里长，但是在这个过程中他还要翻越高山和穿越丛林，所以加起来他一共要步行约9656公里才走完亚马逊。斯塔福德和他的伙伴在秘鲁还曾被当地部落误认为是谋杀犯而遭囚禁，两天后才被释放。

    Former British army captain Ed Stafford has become the first man to walk the entire length of the Amazon after an incredible journey of two years and four months.

    During his time in the Amazon, Mr. Stafford was wrongly accused of murder, threatened imprisonment, stung by hundreds of wasps, dodged venomous snakes and forced to put concrete in his mouth by hostile indigenous people.

    Risky adventure

    His trek began on April 2 of 2008 at the summit of Mount Mismi in Peru. He started the journey with his walking partner Luke Collyer, 37, an outdoor activities instructor. After three months his partner quit and headed home, leaving Mr. Stafford on his own.

    He was not alone for long before he teamed up with Peruvian forestry worker Gadiel “Cho” Rivera, who initially agreed to escort him for five days past drug traffickers and hostile tribes but continued all the way to the Atlantic.

    Living off piranha and rice, the pair encountered dangerous wildlife including electric eels, pit vipers and anacondas. Mr. Stafford estimated that he suffered 50,000 mosquito bites.

    Their biggest challenge was food. “If all goes well we have our daily ration of farina, a local carbohydrate, and we catch fish -- mostly piranhas -- which we put in a soup or we smoke overnight if we want to make a sort of piranha jerky,” he said.

    Although the Amazon measures 4,000 miles, Mr. Stafford walked an estimated extra 2,000 miles up and down mountains and through jungle.

    Tough journey

    The people they encountered were even more of a threat than the native fauna. At one point in Peru, local tribesmen imprisoned Mr. Stafford and his partner on suspicion of murder. They were released after two days. Mr. Stafford said that many of the tribes they encountered on the shores of the river feared white people and that he was warned to stay away from several villages.

    In one village, the pair was chased by five or six boats full of local citizens armed with guns and bows and arrows. “They ran towards us at high speed in a state of panic and aggression,” he said. “If we had acted aggressively I have no doubt they would have killed us.” In the end, the village chief accompanied the pair for 47 days of the walk. “We became good mates,” said Mr. Stafford.

    The sponsors pulled out due to the recession, their GPS system failed and their medical insurance lapsed.“My Global Positioning System doesn't work any more and the map I have was designed for pilots,” he said.

    Environmental awareness

    The trip cost more than $100,000 provided by sponsors and donations. Ranulph Fiennes’ Transglobe Expedition Trust gave them more than $15,000. Mr. Fiennes, who is regarded as one of the world’s leading explorers, said of Mr. Stafford’s achievement: “One of the most impressive aspects of his performance throughout this expedition is Ed’s absolute determination to succeed.”

    He also described the journey as an effort to raise awareness of the environmental issues affecting the region. He chronicled times when he and Mr. Rivera encountered areas of deforestation where the indigenous people could no longer live.