Ed Stafford

Ed Stafford’s epic trek along the length of the Amazon took him more than two and a half years – that’s 860 days! It was the first time anyone had travelled the entire length of the river from its source to the South Atlantic on foot. The great contemporary explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes described Ed’s 7000 kilometre achievement as ‘truly extraordinary’.

Ed Stafford filmed and blogged his entire expedition and during the journey and engaged thousands of Twitter followers across the world. Having lost his main sponsor during the trip social media had become essential to ensure success. Ultimately the expedition became a documentary film and was sold to over one hundred countries. Ed’s first book Walking the Amazon was published in 2012. Ed has gone on to film Naked Castaway, Naked and Marooned and Into The Unknown exploring some of most inaccessible places on the planet for Discovery Channel.

Ed’s speaks of his adventures and encounters with snakes, floods, electric eels, with wild jaguars and the attitude of local tribes-people encountering a tall foreign man on their territory. His story is one of  motivation, resilience, working with others, a deep respect for other cultures, and above all staying positive when things are relentlessly tough. Ed’s messages about survival in the face of adversity, of determination to achieve, and surviving rough times are all delivered with self-deprecating humour.

Ed Stafford was awarded the honour of European Adventurer of the Year 2011. The Guinness World Records formally recognised Ed Stafford’s achievement and he appears in the Guinness Book of Records from 2012 onwards.

Today Ed all about about encouraging others and uses his extraordinary adventures to inspire adults and kids alike to get up off the sofa and get outside.

Following up his Expeditions Unpacked: What the Great Explorers Took Into the Unknown, Ed’s next book Ed Stafford’s Epic Expeditons: 25 of the Greatest Voyages Into the Unknown will be published in 2021.