It took Pete Casey six and a half years to complete his record-breaking Ascent of the Amazon expedition — an unbroken 7,000km journey across South America on foot, following the Amazon River from its Atlantic mouth to its source in the Andes, and then down to the Pacific Ocean.
Born in West Sussex, Pete started out as a builder. Fascinated by exploration, he eventually sold everything, invested all his resources, and set out to organise, finance and execute the expedition himself. On the ground he walked with local companions from indigenous communities across the Brazilian and Peruvian Amazon, while every step and swimming stroke of the six-year journey was planned by him.
The immersive nature of the odyssey offered a rare, ground-level view of the people, flora and fauna of modern Amazonia. It meant adapting to extreme conditions and sustained physical and mental challenges. At one point he was stranded for seven months during a Covid lockdown among remote Kapanawa communities in Peru. He was accepted into the community, made lasting friendships, and shared daily life – planting, harvesting, hunting, and helping build a new house from forest materials.
Pete also lived with Ticuna communities and developed close ties with the Asháninka. Immediately after finishing the expedition he returned to Atalaya to try to support the Asháninka in their efforts to secure land deeds for eleven villages and help protect large areas of rainforest.
His experience offers a 7,000km cultural and environmental cross-section of a rapidly changing world at a critical moment.
