Big River Man Page #3

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city, Wisconsin.

Matt is a professional

poker player by night

and at day works for

Sam Welten's family.

He quit his job with them

to come on the

Amazon expedition.

Martin trusts him more

then anyone on the world

except for me

even thought his not a

professional river navigator.

Matt, you know

where we are? -Yes.

It's difficult

to see ahead.

You know?

-Yes. -OK.

Martin is afraid we lost

because he can't

see sh*t an far.

The problem is

if the river turns quickly

we can't see a coming

and if there a bad water

we are f***ed.

We are top on it.

It's too late.

So, it's gonna be a

really dangerous day.

The river was extremely

high and moving fast.

This creates

deadly whirlpools.

This fortacess

can suck down

entire boats full of people

much less a swimmer.

Dangerous, Martin.

More this way.

More this way.

Dangerous.

Sound like f***ing

death trip today or something.

I am telling him

it's dangerous

but he swim right into it.

Motherf***er.

STREL'S CREW BOA

This is the Cielito Linda

the boat we will be living on

for the next three weeks.

People told us

it was the

worst boat in Peru

and they were right.

It was a very bad boat.

ALFREDO CHAVEZ:

BOAT CAPTAIN:

This is Alfredo Chavez

captain of the Cielito Linda.

I was concern

that our boat

will crushing the banks

like a pink pound

after only two days

but Alfredo said

things like this

happen a lot in Peru.

No need to worried about.

Alfredo is a very special

taboo Amazon to the guy.

Alfred said

there are three

rules in Peru.

The first is to through

away your plan A

the second is to through

away your plan B

and the third is to relax.

Peruvians accept

they can not control nature

and especially not

the Amazon river.

We would have

to do the same

or the river would break

us by the end.

He ask me where

we were this morning.

I'm natural guy. I don't

know how to use GPS.

I'm learning.

I just have...

first training yesterday.

Borut teach me how.

So, when we have fog

like that Martin ask me:

"Do you know

where we are?"

Look, I don't

know where we are.

We are lost in

Amazon somewhere but

I just try to find

the best curve

and keep him not to hit

by a damn log or

something.

You know, he cuts

right through.

I mean, that tree gonna stick

right through his stomach.

There had been

so much rain

that whole

pieces of forest

was floating down

stream with Martin.

They were as heavy

as straight trains

and if they hit him

he would be dead.

I'm pretty good

in the river

but I'm just a fisherman

from Wisconsin.

I'm doing this for free.

I'm doing this for adventure.

If Martin wants

to give a big money

he can get the experienced

Amazon river guy.

I'll do the best I can.

I learning the GPS,

I learning the maps.

When he ask

where we are

just tell him like I

know where we are.

The doctor said

Martin's blood pressure

was already

dangerously high.

RIFAT LATIFI:

PHYSICIAN:

I examined Martin Strel briefly

and measured

the blood pressure.

It was 150\95.

Anybody else with

elevated blood pressure

probably should be

evaluate and not start

swim in the Amazon.

He said that Martin

needed to stop swimming

if he wanted

to avoid the stroke

but Martin wouldn't stop.

PERUVIAN AMAZON:

On expeditions

Martin usually sleep

only 4 hours at night.

The currents had die down

but know he was getting

more and more sun burn.

He has second

degree burns

all over his face.

And he thought

that cure for this

was more beer.

But doctors told him

it only makes him

more dehydrating.

I try to convince him

to stop drinking

so much at night

but I couldn't.

DAY 6, SOMEWHERE

IN PERUVIAN AMAZON

Incredible.

What a freak.

Martin expect rain

more of the heavy rain

in the Amazon.

We haven't much rain

in the last of few weeks.

So, it is crazy

how the weather

is happening.

Will be worm or

something is happening

down here?

Completely unusual.

And he has some kind of

terrible sun burn.

In this part of the earth

the sun can give you

a cancer disease

on the skin

is from the pleasure

somebody doing this

crazy sh*t.

In 2005 the

Peruvian Amazon

experience the worst

drought in 40 years.

This was a crises for

an indigence people

on a massive scale.

People had to be

air lifted out

and food had to be air

lifted in by helicopters

just like in New

Orleans the same year.

The scientists has

blamed for draught

a higher ocean temperatures

caused by global warming.

Rising air in the Atlantic

pushing Amazon clouds away

which stops rainfall

and kills the forest.

The scientists say

the global worming

is the biggest single threat

to the rain forest

because lowest rainfall

can easily turn the rain

forest into a desert.

Even though it was a

middle of rainy season

and had rain at the end

but hadn't rain for

at weeks on a river.

Without a rain

sunburn would

fry a Martin's skin

like a piece of bacon

until it melted

off his face.

And he was

already looking

piece of beef jerky.

Finally I couldn't

take any more

and came up with

genius original idea

that would change the

Amazon swim forever.

The wait mask style

which was

actually my idea

allowed Martin to swim in

global worming conditions

and created an unique

style an Amazon swimming

that made headlines

around the world.

IQUITOS, PERU

The wait mask

got the sun off

and got him

back to normal

but he was coming down

with another worsen

problem.

Martin's wetsuit swim

smells like a sh*t.

Probably because

he sh*t inside

and all that dirty water

all that dust and garbage

that flows down the Amazon.

Of course,

get inside of his body

and that's way is

smells really bad.

Bad day for me today.

YANGTZE SWIM:

On the Yangtze

Martin swimming in the most

dangerous rapids

that human

ever swimming.

In the great gor

with no support services

on either side of the river.

Martin swam alone

through class 6 rapids

on one of

the most polluted

and dangerous rivers

on the world.

The river was so toxic

that's Martin's blood

had to be washed

every day by doctors.

Martin was even

swimming pass

dead bodies in the water.

DR. MATEJA DE

LEONNI STANONIK:

PHYSICIAN:

This is dr. Mateja.

Martin's biggest fan

and personal doctor.

She is a brain surgeon here

to make sure nothing

happened to Martin's brain.

She's also looking into

his heart and lungs

but she wouldnt

have a microscope

to see all that parasites

in the Amazon

that entering into

Martin's body every day.

I was so used

to watching Martin's

battle polluted rivers

that I expected that Amazon

would be the same.

But that was shocked

to find that Amazon

was a clean river

with virgin forest

along the banks

and not a single

piece of trash

for a hundreds of miles.

It was like a river

at the beginning of time

before man's kind.

Martin said it was

clean enough to drink

but I told him

to stop drinking it

because it will

make him sick.

DAY 9

I don't know

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