Amazon ho! for intrepid local team
WHAT if the arrived?
This is the question Johan Dempers has been asking himself for 15 years, ever since he and fellow adventurer Joe Brooks were captured by indigenous tribesmen in a remote region of the Amazon rainforest in Brazil.
Come August, they — and two others, including Dempers’s girlfriend — will be heading back there.
This time, during their twomonth adventure, they’ll also be creating online field classes “out in the jungle” (some of the first from this region) which are open-source and are intended to reach thousands of pupils around the world.
In 2002, their six-month trip was a roller-coaster ride of jungles, rainforests, alligators, septic mosquito bites, walks in pitch darkness when a truck police hadn’t broke down, 17kg weight loss — and 1 000km of paddling in an unwieldy dugout canoe.
But the real fear came when tribesmen towed them to their village, stole their canoe and belongings, then kept the explorers in a hut for almost a week, and gave them little food.
It was only when the military police arrived that the men — with no idea why they had been held — were taken to safety.
“I haven’t been back,” said Dempers at his photography studio in Wellington in the Western Cape, “but what I have learnt since then is that Brazilian Indians in the Amazon are themselves often subjected to kidnapping and killings by the logging companies that operate there — so when they saw two foreigners they thought we were the bad guys.”
Last time Dempers, now 48, and Brooks, now 79, had no way of contacting anybody, or even each other when they were separated for several days.
This time, said Dempers, “the police will be aware of our location”.
Back then, they had carried simple laminated maps, and Dempers also carried 150 rolls of film, which he had to protect from humidity.
This time, their boat will have a solar-powered motor and they’ll have GPS.
“Last time we did it in quite a crazy way. We got the canoe and headed off. We were not always sure of our co-ordinates.”
But most exciting this time for Dempers is the Educational Adventure, which is based on the STEM concept.
A field of learning where science, technology, engineering and maths are taught in unison in the real world, STEM is growing rapidly around the world.
“We will have satellite communication and will transmit images and voice recordings to our website regularly,” said Dempers.
“It is not just about raising awareness of deforestation. The Amazon is a big magnet that gets people’s attention and is perfect to portray STEM as an exciting field.”
Some components will be recorded beforehand, but much of it will be filmed on the ground (and from a drone) and uploaded en route.
Muldene Holloway, Dempers’s girlfriend, will be taking the video footage, and will focus on lessons in musical instruments and natural medicine.
“I have psoriasis, which I really struggle with,” said Holloway.
“I’ve heard a lot about interesting plants from there which they use for treatment.”
With seven months to go, and literally counting down by the second on their website, Dempers, Holloway, Brooks and security adviser Hennie van Rooyen have logistical mountains MAPPED OUT: The Amazon rainforest in Brazil, above, the destination of Muldene Holloway and Johan Dempers, left to climb before they head out.
But, as Dempers said: “When it comes to the Amazon, you can’t plan everything 100%. Some things just happen.”
Last time we did it in quite a crazy way. We got the canoe and headed off