This episode is supported by Smart Travel a new podcast from Nerd Wallet. Travel smarter — and spend less — with help from NerdWallet. Follow Smart Travel wherever you get your podcasts.Smart Travel Podcast
Follow travel author Oscar Scafidi on his world-reco…Check out the new Smart Travel Podcast
This episode is supported by Smart Travel a new podcast from Nerd Wallet. Travel smarter — and spend less — with help from NerdWallet. Follow Smart Travel wherever you get your podcasts.Smart Travel Podcast
Follow travel author Oscar Scafidi on his world-record paddle down the Kwanza River in
Angola. Stretching 600-miles from its source in the Angolan Highlands, in the center of the
country, to the Atlantic Ocean on the country’s west coast, Oscar and his partner Alfie
Weston kayaked the entire length and hiked an additional two hundred miles to circumvent
rapids, waterfalls and dams.
The going was tough and they were unprepared for the dangers and hardships ahead. But,
that’s also part of what’s so inspiring and unique about this story – Oscar and Alfie aren’t
professional adventurers, explorers or African bush experts. They’re just two young guys
with a crazy idea and a lot of guts.
They faced man-eating crocodiles, angry hippos and even angrier police. But over 33 hard
days, camping beside the banks of the river and in small settlements along the way, they
reached the ocean and in doing so did something no one else had ever achieved before,
which has since been recognised as an official world-record by Guinness World Records
This is a story about that adventure, but it’s also a story about dreaming big, taking risks and
achieving something extraordinary. If two ordinary guys, with very little kayaking
experience, can paddle the entire length of one of the longest rivers in Africa, why can’t you
achieve your travel dreams too?
Highlights:
• Facing 600-miles of man-eating crocodiles, deadly rapids and pods of angry hippos
• Kayaking the entire length of one of the least explored rivers on the planet – an official Guinness World Record
• Discovering Angola, one of Africa’s least visited and most misunderstood countries,still reeling from the aftermath of a brutal civil war.
• But one that’s also filled with incredible wildlife, surfing, hiking and more
• Getting arrested in the middle of the night at gun point by the security forces
• Being inspired to follow your own dreams of adventure and hearing what it takes to get it done
If you want to connect with Oscar directly his Instagram is @oscarscafidi and his twitter is
@scafiditravels. He also has an awesome YouTube channel which charts this trip and his
other adventures www.youtube.com/c/ScafidiTravels
The book of this journey is called Kayak the Kwanza: Source to Sea Along Angola’s Longest
River - www.amazon.com/Kayak-Kwanza-Oscar-Scafidi/dp/1789650127
Oscar and Alfie were raising money for the HALO Trust who are removing landmines from
Angola and other war-torn countries around the world. Their goal is a landmine-free wolrs
by 2025. Help them get there at www.halotrust.org
Follow @armchairexplorer podcast on Instagram and Facebook or head over to
www.armchair-explorer.com to find more background information on this episode
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