From December 28, 2009 to February 10, 2010, brave travelers and young scientists will take part in an extreme expedition to the Amazon "In Search of a Pink Dolphin", its organizers said yesterday at a press conference in RIA Novosti
The WorldExtreme project, which, according to its organizer Alexander Ivanov, was born over a cup of tea, has the right to be called unique. First, the route of the expedition passes through a previously unexplored section of the basin of the mysterious and deepest river in the world of the Amazon, to the region of one of its tributaries - the Morona River. Secondly, ordinary travelers will walk through the Amazonian wilderness together with young scientists - the sponsors of the project provide a grant for their research.
“We do not rely on eminent specialists, but we want to give young scientists the opportunity to see with their own eyes the world they are studying,” said Alexander Ivanov. "Specialists in ichthyology, zoology, botany, ornithology, entomology, ethnography, pharmacology, archeology can develop and send their research program (applications are accepted until December 1)."
You ask - and what is the uniqueness here? This expedition revives the traditions of Russian travelers that existed in the 18th century, when the travels themselves were undertaken for research purposes. Yes, but only now these travelers-explorers will be watched closely by … TV cameras. High quality live video will be compressed to 256 kbps by the unique ACT-L3 TM codecby Streambox and transmitted via the BGAN INMARSAT mobile satellite terminal (this technology is used by NASA, the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration, as well as CNN and VGTRK). Most of the time the cameras will be fixed on the participants' helmets, and in case of a halt, they will be located above the camp on poles or in trees. It will be possible to watch extremals in real time on the website woldextreme.ru.
“The viewer will be able to plunge with us into a non-staged journey, into the world of science. For some, this may be the opening of a new path in life. In any case, we hope that it will be very useful, informative and interesting for the Internet public,”says Alexander Ivanov.
The Morona River basin is an extremely inaccessible area. This wild territory is not subject to the government of Peru, a tribe of Amazons once lived here and there is an Indian-guarded entrance to a system of underground tunnels that, according to legend, stretch for many hundreds of kilometers underground.
Anatoly Khizhnyak, a traveler and ethnographer, a member of the Association of Free Travelers, head of the department for long-distance expeditions of the Russian Geographical Society, believes that there is one chance in a thousand to find the mysterious tunnels - not a single serious expedition to this area has taken place. “This is truly a blank spot on the South American map. But the terrain is very dangerous, and you need to prepare for the journey seriously.
There are lost cities here (at one time I even found one), and among the local Indians there are those who know the entrance to this system of tunnels, says an ethnographer who has lived in this territory for more than one year. - But to this day, tribes live here that are not in contact with a white man (one of which was discovered by Anatoly Khizhnyak), and a very serious threat can come from them. Do not forget that finding these tunnels in such a short time is possible only thanks to luck. Although their discovery can become a scientific sensation."
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