Yahoo Finance VIDEO: British woman, 29, braves deadly snakes and pumas to explore parts of the Amazon Rainforest ‘no other human has likely ever set foot in’
A British explorer has become the first person to trek east to west across the Kanuku Mountains – one of the last remaining unexplored wildernesses on earth, deep in the Amazon Rainforest.
Lucy Shepherd, 29, who is the youngest ever member of the Scientific Exploration Society Council, spent two months trekking the jungle in Guyana, South America, braving deadly snakes, aggressive wild boar and lethal pumas to see places it is likely no other human has ever been before.
Completing the gruelling trek entirely on foot, Lucy was joined by four indigenous men from multiple Amerindian tribes on the journey and filmed her experiences for a documentary.
Lucy, who grew up in Suffolk and is now based in north London when she is not on expeditions, said: “I’ve spent the last year preparing for this expedition by doing heat and weight training.
“The physical and mental challenge cannot be underestimated, and it required every ounce of my resilience.
“But knowing I would be seeing parts of the Amazon that no other human has likely ever set foot in was exhilarating and I couldn’t wait to share the places I discovered.”
There are no explorers in Lucy’s family – her mum, Aysha, 67, is a retired doctor, and her dad, Paul, also 67, a retired teacher – but Lucy has had a passion for being outdoors and exploring since childhood.
She said: “Growing up as an only child, I loved climbing trees and being outdoors. I always had an adventurous streak.
“My parents weren’t explorers, but they were very supportive and, at 15, they sent me on a survival adventure course for two weeks in Sutherland, Scotland.”
She added: “On the course, I first heard the word ‘expedition’ spoken by instructors and that changed the direction of my life, as I now knew the career path I wanted to take.”
After spotting an advert in a newspaper calling for a group of 18–25 year olds to take part in a 10-week scientific trek across the Arctic, Lucy, then 18, signed herself up.
She said: “I spent 10 weeks in the Arctic on my first real adventure. It was exhilarating trekking across the terrain and camping along the way.”
She added: “Everyone I told about the Arctic trek remarked to me that it was a once in a lifetime achievement.
“I thought to myself, ‘If this is a once in a lifetime thing, then surely it’s all downhill from here.’”
Determined to embark on her own expeditions, Lucy became a member of the Royal Geographical Society, who provide advice and training for field research and expeditions, shortly after returning from the Arctic.
Now, with 10 years’ experience under her belt, she has taken on one of her greatest challenges yet – trekking the unchartered wilderness in the Amazon.
But Lucy had a serious aim behind her mission. She wanted to highlight how the area is under threat from humans.
She said: “I arrived in Guyana in September 2021, to spend two months hiking through the jungle.”
She added: “I filmed everything to include in a documentary, to shed some light on this beautiful part of the world.
“The area has been a protected wilderness since 2011 but it is now facing growing pressures from unsustainable wildlife hunting and trapping, logging and mining, as well as land encroachment and forest clearing for agricultural expansion.
“All of this threatens this unique ecosystem.”
During the expedition, Lucy had to climb mountain ranges as high as 1300 metres and navigated dense forest floors, thick with tangled branches and leaves.
She said: “It’s extremely tough conditions in terms of the heat and terrain and when you’re in it, it’s not exactly fun but there were incredible moments on the journey too.
“When we were climbing the mountains in Guyana, the view was obscured by treetops because these are jungle mountains, but every so often, I would catch a glimpse between the trees of the view, and it would take my breath away.”
Unpredictable wildlife, including venomous bushmaster snakes, posed dangers.
Lucy said: “You’re in their territory, there’s wildlife everywhere.
“There are thousands of snakes. The bushmasters were particularly scary because they were huge, some eight to nine foot long, but so invisible. They completely blended in with the jungle.”
She added: “We had to watch our step and we had a moment where a member of the team almost fell onto one of them.
“And there are hundreds of wild boars that live in the rainforest. We were having to climb trees to get away from them because they can be super aggressive, and we didn’t want to risk them charging at us.”
Night-time brought no let up from the dangers.
Lucy said: “We camped in hammocks above the ground, and we had big cats like jaguars and pumas coming to check us out.
“On my first night in the jungle, I woke up to see a jaguar casually trotting past my hammock, which was incredible and terrifying.”
And smaller critters also proved to be a challenge.
Lucy said: “I got attacked at one point by a really big wasp and suffered two stings on my head, one on my neck, one on my arm and one on my back, which was quite sore.
“You have to respect the wildlife and know how to stay calm when you encounter them.”
Four men were with Lucy on the trek at any one time, although there was a total of six who helped and switched places due to injuries along the way.
Aaron Bernadine, 52, Vivian Smith, 34, Michael McDonald, 25, Lionel James, 53, Maximus Griffith, 21, and Carlos Honorio, 41, all took part in the journey.
Lucy finally left the jungle on November 20 – to the huge relief to her mum and dad, who live in Suffolk.
She said: “My parents have been having to cope with me going on these sorts of adventures for over 10 years and they’re aware it’s a dangerous thing.”
She added: “They’re very supportive but naturally they worry too.
“I had a GPS tracker on me, and they tracked my every move while I was gone. My mum was watching as I approached the end of the journey – she could see me getting closer to being out of the jungle.
“Once I was out, she sent me a text straight away saying, ‘What a relief.’”
Now, Lucy, who is in a relationship, has been enjoying some much-missed home comforts.
“It sounds daft but something I really missed while I was there was apples,” she said. “I absolutely love apples and we didn’t have any fruit while we were trekking.
“The first thing I was looking forward to was eating an apple – and seeing my miniature Jack Russell, Sami, who has been looked after by my boyfriend.”
Having landed safely back in the UK on November 28, Lucy is looking forward to enjoying the festive season at home.
She said: “There was a point where I was a bit worried that I’d be spending Christmas in the jungle as the trek was extremely tough so I’m really looking forward to spending time with my family on Christmas Day.
“I’m taking a bit of a break before heading to the Arctic in February for a few weeks to guide some scientific expeditions.”
Lucy’s documentary of her experiences in the Amazon jungle, named Amazon Unchartered, does not yet have a transmission date but she is hoping it will be available to watch soon.
Filmed by herself and members of the team, Lucy hopes it will encourage people to take a greater interest in preserving the earth’s protected wilderness.
She said: “My passion for exploring is rooted in sharing my love of the planet’s most extreme yet fragile places and encouraging others to not only take on their own pioneering challenges but also gain wider knowledge of our endangered lands.”
