Be The Jam

Mike and I are currently investigating the feasibility of navigating the River Amazon by punt. Next weekend we are off for a fact finding visit to the Cherwell Boathouse in Oxford. It seems from our initial studies of the challenge at hand that there will be five main problems that we will face should we undertake the journey.

1. The distance; the Amazon is longer than the Cherwell and so in order to carry enough supplies and maintain an appropriate "Pimms per Mile" ratio we may well require a larger than ordinary punt.
2. Mint; I am no expert on the flora of the Amazon but I have heard no tell of there being sufficient, if any, supplies of fresh mint  along the route, we will have to take our own plant with us and care for it to ensure that our Pimms does not go mint free.
3. Cucumber; same problem as above but the added problem here is that cucumber plants are significantly larger than mint, will they cope with the tropical heat? Cucumber is not as important for a decent Pimms as mint but it is a fairly necessary component of a cucumber sandwich.
4. Waterfalls; punts are flat bottomed boats and not very stable at the best of times, waterfalls or rapids could cause capsize and the untimely demise of the mint or cucumber plants.
5. Piranha; I believe that these fish are not vegetarian and would therefore not pose a risk to the journey by having designs on the mint.

In conclusion then whilst the difficulties and threats to the success of the trip are large they do not seem insurmountable, further research is required.

see also Punting