About the
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The Amazon Adventure ran from 23 July to 17 Sept 1997Who Am I?My name is Andrew Mercer. I am a 28 year old computer programmer working for ANZ Bank in Wellington, New Zealand.
People are always a little confused why I should want travel through Amaz⌠nia, and are interested in what it is like to go there. Here are the answers to some common questions that people ask me about the project. Why am I doing this project?
I am also very interested in using the Internet for education, particularly as a way to help students who find it difficult to attend school or university. My interest arose from a previous job, at Massey University, where I helped build a computer system for extramural students to talk with their teachers and other students via the Internet. I would like to learn more about using technology in education by studying for a Masters degree in Instructional Systems Design, but this subject is currently only taught in the United States and is very expensive. But perhaps my experience in this project will help me. Eventually I would like to use my skills to help students in developing countries where they don’t have a lot of money to spend on fancy computers and communications. Why did I choose the Amazon?
Another reason that I chose Amaz⌠nia, of course, was because it seemed like a really fun adventure. There are few other places where you get the chance to explore rivers and rainforest by canoe, come face to face with alligators and boa constrictors, play with monkeys and colourful macaws, and discover remote river towns on a riverboat. My first visit in January this year was a lot of fun, and I am definitely looking forward to returning there in July. How am I going to be travelling?I will be travelling to Amaz⌠nia by commercial airlines from Wellington. The journey takes several days and involves catching about four or five different planes until finally reaching Manaus. Once I am in Amaz⌠nia I will be travelling mostly by riverboat. Riverboats are like the "Greyhound Buses" of the Amazon – they are a very cheap way to cover a lot of distance, but they take a long time and can be very crowded (there can be 300 people, or more, on a riverboat). Long journeys take several days. For this reason I’ll just do what the locals do – take a hammock and hang it up on hooks from the roof so that I have a comfortable place to rest and sleep. My journeys will also involve walking through the rainforest, a short horsetrek along trails in the Andes. What do I need to take with me?It will be difficult to carry a lot of luggage on my travels, so I’ll need to survive on the contents of my backpack (admittedly it is a BIG backpack). I will carry:
Because it rains a lot in Amaz⌠nia, things are likely to get very wet. For this reason the contents of my pack will all be sealed in ziplock plastic bags to try and keep things reasonably waterproof. In addition to the contents listed above, I will need to take my communications equipment. In some places, I can get by with a cellular phone or can use the telephones available at "teleposts" in most towns. But when I am in remote areas I will need to use a satellite phone which is being provided by Telecom. Satellite phones work in areas even if there are no phonelines or cellular service – but they are also very expensive to use (about $15 per minute). Because of this, I will only use it when I really need to. I will also take my laptop computer with me on some (but not all) the journeys. The satellite phone and computer are both delicate pieces of equipment, so I will need to treat them very carefully and make sure that they are well wrapped in plastic bags so that they don’t get wet when it rains. What vaccinations and medicines do I need?When travelling through some countries, and especially in the tropics, it is necessary to have vaccinations (usually injections) and carry medicines so that you don’t catch any illnesses and diseases. Nowadays there are medicines available against most diseases so that your chances of catching anything nasty are minimised. Unfortunately, however, there are still a few diseases for which there is no medicine available so you sometimes just have to be sensible about what you do. Vaccinations that I need for travelling include:
Unfortunately, there are many other illnesses and diseases that I could get exposed to during my travels – but the ones mentioned above are the most common, and for which vaccination is most crucial.
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The Amazon Adventure is supported by:
In
July I will be setting off on my adventure to explore the
Amazon and surrounding area. This is my second expedition
to the Amazon, and I am looking forward to the
opportunity to further explore some of the places that I
visited last time as well as travelling to exciting new
places such as 
I love
Latin America, and I love to travel. My first trip out of
New Zealand was in 1995 when I spent a month in 
When I was in Cuba I
met a friend, Susi, from Brazil. Susi told me some things
about Brazil, and when I returned to New Zealand we wrote
letters and exchanged some books about our countries.
Since then, I have a read a lot about Brazil and
especially about Amaz⌠nia. I am fascinated by
Amaz⌠nia’s history and environment – and all
the stories have given me a desire to experience it for
myself. Part of this project will also give students an
opportunity to learn more about Amaz⌠nia’s
environment and the affect that people’s actions are
having on it. Perhaps by learning about the environment
in Amaz⌠nia, it will also help us consider the local
environments where we live. 
