It’s the first cover in the history of the television about the unique expedition into the very heart of the jungles – The Amazon. The backbone of the travelers’ crew is constituted by Petersburgers; the leader of the group, Alexander Ivanov, was the first one to go on the scout to the subtropics by himself. Our correspondent Nikita Bobryshev managed to find him right in the jungles though it cost him a great deal of efforts.

Dozen of injections, heaps of literature about the Amazon, numerous expeditions around Russia, and here he is, right in the jungles. The campaign is highly extreme: behind the wide leaves of South American vegetation you can find the aboriginals’ envenomed arrows, predators’ fangs and even murderous plants. In order to get ready for the trip our hero (literally) studied the ethnos, flora, fauna and even the religions of those places. And now, finally, he has the opportunity to actually touch the plants of the Amazon. Today it’s only the plants since his house is not far from the “jungles”. A walk in the Botanic Gardens of St. Petersburg should prepare our traveler for the trip to the unexplored lands.

Alexander Ivanov, leader of the expedition: “For a long time the Morona River was inaccessible for exploration; in fact, it still is. I don’t know any expeditions that had a written report of their going through this section of the route, nor did I hear about a sole explorer who ever did that.”

On the December 29 the travelers will fly from St. Petersburg to Quito (the capital of Ecuador). There, after loading all the necessary equipment, they will go straight to the Morona River. This will be the most breathtaking and dangerous part of the journey. By the way, this area is the habitat of the famous tribe of “headshrinkers”. Nevertheless, Alexander is positive that in the south of America the travelers will be safe.

Alexander Ivanov, leader of the expedition: “We need to understand that the indigenous people of South America alone totally differ from those in the North America. Some are aggressive, others are not. Southerners are sly, thievish, but there’s no such thing in their culture as someone wishing to die for the others. In other words, if they feel that someone from their tribe might die in the upcoming fight, they will avoid the conflict.”

Nevertheless, the travelers will be provided with weapons, including guns, although the goals of the expedition are strictly scientific. It’s sponsored by the World Encyclopedia of Travel, so there will be other things to do besides the self-defense, like scientific reports, filming and, probably, the world discoveries.

Alexander Ivanov, leader of the expedition: “We well have three or four days of camping in the jungles, when we will be looking for the legendary tunnels that were mentioned in the descriptions of many scientists. We want either to dismantle this myth, or find them and provide an actual material for everyone to see.”

You will be able to see every step of the expedition group in the internet. Constant online translation is the unprecedented case in the history of traveling. And the jungle story just begins.

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Twenty lovers of the extreme adventures from St. Petersburg are going to the poorly explored world of the mysterious Amazon together with scientists-enthusiasts in the end of December, 2009.

“We’re getting off into the Amazon wilderness, cradle of the Inkas’ ancient civilization that is connected with many myths, legends and riddles,”informed the correspondents the initiator of the 30-days mission, 28-year-old diver from St. Petersburg, Alexander Ivanov, during the press-conference.

On commenting upon the title of the expedition, he said that one of the interesting mammals found in the Amazon’s tributaries is the pink dolphin.

There are many legends about this mysterious animal. The most popular tells us a story about the dolphins turning into beautiful men during a full moon and seducing local girls. Another myth says that a spirit of a drowned man comes into a dolphin’s body and soon transforms into a handsome stranger. “The desire to attract society’s attention to the problem of the species’ extinction due to humans’ greed is what prompted us to choose a pink dolphin as a symbol of the upcoming expedition,”said Ivanov.

The scientific crew will consist of 20 people; there are five vacant places left. All the travelers will be fully provided with tourist equipment: satellite phone, GPS-navigator, portable solar batteries, weapons for self-protection and hunting. The crew will also have a doctor, well acquainted with local fauna; he will have a set of antidotes and a first-aid kit. The expedition will be provided with armed escort.

The extreme trip consists of traveling into three countries: Ecuador, Peru and Brazil, including going to the actual active volcano, geyser valleys; canoeing down the Pastaza and Morona rivers until the team gets to Iquitos, Peru. The plan during the trip is to follow the track of ancient legends; explore flora and fauna of these territories, untouched by humans hand; study the culture and customs of the aborigines. The team also plans to gather samples of the wild plants growing in the unexplored territories of the Amazon forests.

Director of the museum of Zoology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Professor Roald Potapov encouraged the enthusiasts setting for the informative mission to the South America; he hopes that the team members will come back with plentiful expeditionary material gathered in the reserved areas of Amazonia.“This expedition is highly important, since it has been more than half a century that our museum of zoology has displayed new show-pieces,” he informed.

Among the organizers of the expedition are affiliated companies: the WorldExtreme and Five dimensions.

Author: Nikolay KRUPENIK

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Between December 28, 2009 and February 10, 2010 daring adventurers and young scientists will go for a quest of a Pink Dolphin to the Amazon River basin, as it was announced by the organizers of the project yesterday during the press-conference in RIA News.

“The pink dolphin was chosen as a symbol of the project not just because of its beauty. We want to attract attention to the extinction of the animal species through people’s fault, to attract society’s attention to the outside world,”explained the WorldExtreme expedition’s project manager Yulia Kuzovleva.

The WorldExtreme project, created, as its organizer Alexander Ivanov states, during the cup of tea, has all the rights to be called unique. First of all, the expedition route goes along the unexplored banks of the mysterious and the most full-flowing river in the world, the Amazon, into the area of one of its tributaries, the Morona River. Second, the common travelers will explore the Amazon’s wilderness together with young scientists that will be awarded a grant for their research by the sponsors of the project.

“We don’t place our bets on the eminent scientists but give the opportunity to the young experts that have a hard time finding the sponsor to see the object of their research with their own eyes,”said Alexander Ivanov. “Experts in ichthyology, zoology, botany, ornithology, entomology, ethnography, pharmacology, and archeology can work out and send their research program (the deadline for the works’ filing is December 1).”

You might ask, what unique is there about it? This expedition revives the traditions of Russian explorers that existed in the 18th century when the expeditions themselves were aimed at exploration. True, but now these travelers-explorers will be under the intense watch of… video cameras.“Live” video of high quality will be compressed to 256 Kbit/sec stream with exclusive ACT-L3™ codec by Streambox company and transmitted through the mobile satellite terminal BGAN INMARSAT. This solution is the best option when you need to provide mobility and fast equipment setup (especially if broadcasting is coming from the life endangering places). High performance, reliability and a minor signal delay are the qualities of our partners from Streambox company’s products. That’s why this technology is used by NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration), along with CNN and VGTRK (All-Russian State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company). Most of the time the cameras will be fixed on participants’ helmets and during the rest break they will be placed on the poles or trees above the camp. You will have a chance to watch the thrill-seekers on the project’s official site www.worldextreme.ru.

“A watcher will have an opportunity to join us in the unstaged trip to the world of the science. For some of them it might become a discovery of the new way of living. At any rate we hope that it will be very useful, informative and interesting for the internet audience,” says Alexander Ivanov.

Morona’s basin is an area that’s hard to get to. Those wild territories are not even under Peru’s government; the Amazons’ tribe once lived here; moreover, the area still has the secret system of underground tunnels, once guarded by Amerindians; the tunnels extend many hundreds of kilometers below the surface. Traveler and ethnographer; member of the Free Travelers’ Association; head of the Russian Geographical Society’ Department of Long-distance Expeditions Anatoliy Hyzhnyak believes that there is a chance out of thousand to find these tunnels, since there has been no solid expedition organized to this area. “It’s really a blind spot on the map of south America. But the territory is very dangerous, and we need a lot of serious preparations for the trip. There are lost cities here (once I even found one), and some of the indigenous people know the entrance into the system of these tunnels,” tells the ethnographer who once lived in this territory for more than one year. “But there still live some tribes that don’t make contacts with white people [Anatoliy Hyzhnyak found one of such tribes], and they can pose quite a serious threat. We shouldn’t forget that only luck might help us find these tunnels in such a short period of time. Though if it happens, the discovery might become a scientific sensation.”

Author: Svetlana Sinyavskaya

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Young Russian life-scientists and mere extreme lovers are going on a quest of a pink dolphin into the Amazon River basin. The unprecedented journey to the South America starts in the end of December and will finish on the February 10, 2010. The expedition is held as a part of the WorldExtreme project.

The extreme trip will consist of traveling into three countries: Ecuador, Peru and Brazil. It’s not a typical “all-inclusive” journey. The fifteen members of the expedition will fling themselves into the mysterious world of jungles, canoe down the Pastaza and Morona rivers, visit the actual active volcano and explore the totally wild territories, untouched by civilization.

“Of course, not everyone will have the opportunity to become a member of our expedition but everybody will be able to feel themselves as the actual participants of the adventures thanks to the internet,” says the organizer of the WorldExtreme project, Alexander Ivanov. “In this project we decided to combine the scientific part, represented by scientists-ethnographers and biologists, with a group of common travelers that can join the expedition. Finally, this project will be shown online in the internet. Any watcher will have an opportunity to join us in the unstaged trip to the world of the Amazon.”

The pink dolphin (porpoise) was chosen to be the symbol of the expedition. It’s one of the rarest mammals of the Amazon. During the floods the dolphins are often seen gliding gracefully between the flooded trees. The locals love them for the fact that porpoises scare away the dreadful shoals of cannibal fish – piranha - and help the fishermen by dislodging the fish from the depth onto the sandbanks. There are many legends about this mysterious animal. The most popular tells us a story about the dolphins turning into beautiful men during a full moon and seducing local girls.

Young dolphins are light-grey but with age their color gets a shade of pink. Unfortunately the sight of the pink dolphins is rare – not many make it to the manhood. The animals are rapaciously killed by hunters. This rare animal needs our protection. The goal of the expedition In quest of the Pink Dolphin is to attract society’s attention to the necessity of protecting and studying rare species of animals; there will be several young scientists among the members of the team.

“We don’t place our bets on the eminent scientists. We want to give the opportunity to the young experts that have a hard time finding the sponsor to see the object of their research with their own eyes,” pointed out the organizer of the expedition Alexander Ivanov. The plans of the expedition also include the search of mysterious underground tunnels in the area of the Morona River, one of the Amazon’s tributaries. According to the legend, the tunnels consist of the gigantic net of galleries, a real labyrinth extending thousands of kilometers. There’s an assumption that these are the traces of the extraterrestrial civilizations. But the main goal of the travelers is to explore flora and fauna of the territories, untouched by humans’ hand, as well as the culture and customs of the locals.

The plans of the expedition also include the search of mysterious underground tunnels in the area of the Morona River, one of the Amazon’s tributaries. According to the legend, the tunnels consist of the gigantic net of galleries, a real labyrinth extending thousands of kilometers. There’s an assumption that these are the traces of the extraterrestrial civilizations. But the main goal of the travelers is to explore flora and fauna of the territories, untouched by humans’ hand, as well as the culture and customs of the locals.

“I’m very pleased,” says one of the expedition’s members, vice-president of Russian National Geographical Society Alexander Fedorchenko, “that the traditions of Russian explorers are coming back. When the WorldExtreme contacted us, it became clear that it’s not one of the typical commercial expeditions that often take place now. These people try to revive the traditions of Russian explorers that existed in the 18th century when the expeditions themselves were aimed at exploration. It conveys a great deal to me that the expedition leaders will award a grant to the young scientists and will use their own finances to let these scientists do their research on site.”

Amazonia is one of the ultimate blind spots on the world map; it bears plenty of the unexplored. The travelers are positive that even if the members of the expedition won’t be able to discover new species of plants and animals, there will be lots of other things already practiced by the preceding explorers in the past centuries (like photos and diaries) that will provide many fascinating and unexpected discoveries. “We might not see the pink dolphin but we will surely get a full pleasure of such trip,” the project members say.

Author: Elena KOVACHICH

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