In 1914, President Theodore Roosevelt co-led an expedition to descend an unknown river in Brazil known as the River of Doubt. 100 years later, Dave Freeman and Paul Schurke retraced Roosevelt’s journey along this renamed Rio Roosevelt. They did it to see how the river has changed and to celebrate the legacy of President Roosevelt who protected 230 million acres of public land and set the stage for the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. You can learn more about their 400-mile canoe adventure at freemansexplore.com Dave previously appeared in Episode 4. Dave Freeman, welcome back to the show.

For five weeks, Erin Bastian and two teammates paddled sea kayaks 800 km through a beautiful and remote wilderness in the Chilean Patagonia. Starting in Puerto Eden, they traveled south through the fjords and rivers and among tidal glaciers and icebergs until their finish point in Puerto Natales. The expedition was called Wilderness 72 for the 72 degree line of longitude they would straddle and you can learn more about it and about Erin at erinbastian.com. Erin Bastian, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.

After a 9000 km cycling adventure across Africa, Davey du Plessis set his sights on his next adventure, an unsupported solo source-to-sea expedition of the Amazon River.  In 2012, with the first two stages of the Amazon expedition behind him, Davey set out to kayak the remaining 5700 km to the Atlantic Ocean.  This final stage, however, would not be completed because Davey was ambushed in the Peruvian jungle, shot 4 times with a shotgun.  He managed to escape, despite his serious injuries, and find help from the locals that ultimately saved his life.  You can read about his incredible ordeal in his book titled Choosing to Live and from his website daveyduplessis.com.  Davey du Plessis, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.

West Hansen first paddled the Amazon at the 2008 Great River Amazon Raft Race in Peru.  Their team won the race and set a new record in the process.  On the flight home to Texas, West read the book Running the Amazon by Joe Kane and got hooked on the idea of paddling the entire river.  He started planning the next year and by August 2012 was back in Peru to begin his Amazon Express expedition.  His goal for the expedition was to be the first person to kayak the Amazon River from it furthest source to the Atlantic Ocean.  You can learn more about the adventure at theamazonexpress2012.com.  West Hansen, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.