Amazon Woman

Facing Fears, Chasing Dreams, and My Quest to Kayak the Largest River from Source to Sea

By: Darcy Gaechter

Narrated by: Laura Jennings

Part memoir, part feminist manifesto, this narrative shows what incredible feats we are capable of and will encourage people, especially women, across all backgrounds and ages to find the courage and strength to live the life they’ve imagined.

This 148-day journey began on Darcy Gaechter’s 35th birthday. She sold her successful outdoor adventure business, upsetting her partner and boyfriend of 12 years and getting them both fired in the process. The emotional waters that would fester and erupt on the ensuing journey were often more challenging to navigate than the mighty river itself. With blistering lips and irradiated fingernails, Darcy would tackle raging Class Five whitewater for 25 days straight, barely surviving a dynamite-filled canyon being prepared for a new hydroelectric plant. She and her two companions would encounter illegal loggers, narco-traffickers, murderous Shining Path rebels, and ruthless poachers in the black-market trade in endangered species. They would plead for mercy at the hands of the murderous Ashaninka people who were convinced that they had come to steal their children’s organs.

In a desperate attempt meant to give her some pretense of control, Darcy even cut off all her hair before entering Peru’s notoriously dangerous “Red Zone” in hopes of passing for a boy and being seen as less of a target. At once a heart-pounding adventure and a celebration of pushing personal limits, Amazon Woman speaks to all of us feeling trapped by our desk-bound, online society. This a story of finding the courage and strength to challenge nature, cultures, social norms, and oneself.

©2020 Darcy Gaechter (P)2020 Dreamscape Media, LLC

Excellent story telling

She did a great job, it was a joy to listen to. Would love to listen to more books by Darcy Gaechter

such an exciting story!

this book was everything I wanted it to be. I grew up in the Aspen valley and it feels so cool to know that one of our locals did such an amazing thing and continues to do such amazing things.

Great story of adventure and exploration!

The book was great and I loved learning about some of the history of the Amazon river basin and its people. The first chapters were really gripping and I loved experiencing the whitewater sections of the river through the storyteller's voice.

More than just an adventure book...

There are many facets to this book beyond kayaking, beyond adventure travel, and beyond the now well worn “human spirit triumphs over a seemingly impossible challenge”. While all of those are present and enjoyable here, Darcy reflects on more personal and in many ways more universal questions and issues. The challenges faced by women athletes, the difficulties of relationships and interpersonal dynamics in difficult times, and my personal favorite “What the hell am I doing with my life?” While Darcy chose a very different path in life than I have, many of the questions remain the same. While very few of us can imagine what it’s like to paddle 148 days down the Amazon almost everyone can relate to the agonizing dilemma of trying to choose between something you love and what society / family / and “better judgement” say we should do. It’s this deeper theme that made this book special for me, maybe it’s a different theme for you, there are several good ones to choose from in there.

Additionally, killer job by the narrator! She translates the emotions of the text incredibly well. You can hear the tension, fear, and exhaustion in her voice.

Great Book for Everyone

Incredible story. I'm not a kayaker, and couldn't stop listening. The narrator wasn't my favorite, but the story is so well written and compelling that I couldn't stop listening. This is an adventure story, but a story of self acceptance. I loved it.