Face to face with a monster from the deep
The Observer
'Filming around the globe for his BBC series Equator, Simon Reeve survived malaria, jungle guerrillas and tarantulas in the boat. But nothing prepared him for the grand finale: attempting to surf an Amazonian tidal wave.
As the tidal wall of water surged and boiled behind our small boat, I began to have serious doubts about the planned finale to my journey across the Amazon basin: surfing one of the longest waves in the world.
For a start, the tidal wave, known locally as the pororoca, was hurtling up the Amazon tributary at 20mph and a height of around four metres, tearing at the riverbanks and sweeping all manner of dangerous wildlife along in the current. I had also just been told one of the world's best surfers had broken his back trying to ride the tidal bore. Most important, my earlier enthusiasm for the challenge could not mask the crucial fact that I was a complete novice who had never stood on a surfboard...'
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