Ep. 381: First Woman to Kayak the Amazon from Source to Sea - Darcy Gaechter
Adventure Sports Podcast
Curt Linville
4.6 • 579 Ratings
🗓️ 4 June 2018
⏱️ 61 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In 2013, Darcy Gaechter became the first woman (and vegan) to kayak the Amazon River from source to sea. With blistering lips and irradiated fingernails, her team of three paddlers tackled Class V whitewater for twenty-five days in a row; just barely survived a dynamite laden canyon being prepared for a hydroelectric dam, and pled for mercy at the hands of the murderous Ashaninka people who remained somewhat convinced we had come to steal their children's organs. In a desperate act meant to give me some pretense of control, Darcy cut off all of her hair just before they entered Peru’s notoriously violent “Red Zone.” The hope was to pass for a boy and be seen as less of a target. Despite all odds, they reached the Atlantic Ocean 4,300 miles and 148 days of kayaking later. Upon reaching the Atlantic, the three, an esoteric computer programmer from London, a vegan girl from Aspen, CO and her begrudging boyfriend who would become the first man to kayak the Amazon, “because his girlfriend made him”—became the first three people to kayak the entire Amazon. Darcy became the first woman to do it. Now, the same number of people have walked on the moon as have descended the Amazon from source to sea.
Intagram: darcygaechter
Facebook: darcygaechter
Twitter: @gaechterdarcy
Email: darcy_at_smallworldadventures.com
Small World Adventures
www.smallworldadventures.com/team/darcy-gaechter
If you know a Publisher who would be interested in taking a crack at Darcy's new book Amazon Woman", please put her in touch or let us know and we'll pass the info along.
Stop by www.kindsnacks.com/sports to save 50% off of your first order plus free shipping with the KIND Snack Pack!
Join us on Patreon for only $5 a month to get your all access pass to the inspiration that will have you thinking about how you too can live a life outside the box:
https://www.patreon.com/AdventureSportsPodcast
Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | And he sat down and sort of quietly started crying. |
| 0:09.0 | And I just looked at him and I was like, this man has just accomplished the most amazing thing in his life. |
| 0:15.0 | And he trained for 10 years, for an entire decade, to be able to do this and put everything into it. |
| 0:21.5 | And he just felt, you know, so overwhelmed and so happy. |
| 0:25.6 | Episode 381, the first woman to kayak the Amazon River from Source to Sea with Darcy Gechter. |
| 0:32.3 | This episode is brought to you in part by Kind. |
| 0:34.8 | Kind makes delicious healthy snacks using whole ingredients. |
| 0:38.2 | If you guys haven't tried it yet, their pressed bars by Kine are the best of my opinion. Go try the |
| 0:42.7 | mango apple chia. It's awesome. We've got a special offer for you guys to try 20 Kine snacks with their |
| 0:48.5 | new snack pack. You can enjoy 50% off and free shipping on your first snack pack when you |
| 0:53.0 | subscribe to it through Snack Club, which is Ks Monthly Snacks Subscription Service. Go to kindsnacks.com slash sports for more details. That's kindsnacks.com slash sports to learn more and to subscribe to the snack pack. You know your dog is the best part of your adventure and a great way to keep him happy and healthy is by feeding him |
| 1:11.0 | the best pet food. That's why you need to check out Canada Pet Food. Canada is an independent and |
| 1:16.1 | family-owned pet food company who uses the same care and the same quality ingredients they want for |
| 1:20.6 | their own pets when making their pet foods. Check out canaday.com slash podcast. You're listening to |
| 1:26.7 | the Adventure Sports podcast brought to you by 180 Tech. |
| 1:30.0 | We talk with adventurers from around the globe to bring you the inspiration and motivation |
| 1:34.0 | you need to get started in the outdoors or to keep you moving if you're already there. |
| 1:38.4 | Now here's your host, Kurt Linville. |
| 1:40.7 | Hey, today is a fun show about the Amazon. |
| 1:49.1 | It's about kayaking. It's about first descents from source to sea. |
| 1:57.1 | And it's about being a small, petite gal who wanted to prove that if you really want to do something, it can be done. |
| 2:01.6 | Darcy Gechter is with us today. Darcy grew up in the Aspen area, Aspen, Colorado, |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Curt Linville, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Curt Linville and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.