So whilst we were in the Jungle, Mark was explaining our rowing attempt to our guide and Lewis, the guide, said 'I would love to do that'. After a further chat mark came rushing up to me with his new plan, which turned into our new plan. We would take a third person with us. It's not as stupid as it sounds, we would be faster, safer and with the right person we would be able to avoid trouble and negotiate our way through encounters. Already we have decided to ditch the weekly stops for sightseeing and human interest stories so why not make it safe and fast as well. It should be pointed out that we were advised this during our planning stages and a number of high profile adventurers were suggested but we wanted this for ourselves and said no.

I would be lying if I didn't say that to start with I was unsure as this has always been our baby, but very quickly the advantages took over and we talked and we agreed, this is a way forward. Unfortunately after much discussion Lewis pulled out, but he did give us a great idea and a winning one. It will not endanger our world first, it will just add one more person to it. It won't take away from the adventure as we will still be rowing it and we won't need any more food as we will be going quicker.

Also it kind of ticks a box for me, I want to give something back to the area and I can't think of anything better than giving a local person this opportunity. However adventurous people don't grow on trees and it takes a certain type of person to step up and do something this crazy so we are opening all doors to see who is behind.

One door we opened had an interesting person behind it. I had met him on my first night here and had a good feeling about him and I always try and trust my instinct, however I wasn't in a sociable mood and paid little attention to him. Next we saw him at Karma cafe on Marks first night out, he came over and again we spoke briefly, as Mark and I weighed up our options he came to mind along with another few locals I knew. We have been touring people we know, Mick has fired off a few emails and we are putting word around that we are looking, so as we toured the local hangouts we found this guy and I went to speak to him. I played it cool, mentioned the idea and returned to my table to let the idea sink in, when I returned with Mark we talked and he ticks a lot of boxes, he is big and muscular so fitness will be fine, he also speaks the lingo so communicating is sorted as well, however he did explain that he has seen UFO's not only once but on several occasions whilst taking ayahuasca the local medicine cough cough drug that all the hippies come here for. This kind of set off warning signals for me and Mark was smugly sat watching me get more uncomfortable as conversation turned very much to the region of religion and mind altering experiences, It's fair to say I'm scared of both nowadays

So there it is, our big news. And here are the job specifications:

• Must be able to speak Spanish and Portuguese to a reasonable standard
• Must be able to act quickly, i.e. within the week
• Rowing experience preferred but not essential
• GSOH, Mentally strong and positive and a team player
• Nudity optional

We should point out that not surprisingly our Iquitos race manager (Patti) is on the case and has arranged a meeting with a trusted guide tomorrow so fingers crossed...