A British man has recounted his harrowing 18-day survival in the Amazon rainforest after a boat breakdown left him stranded. Callan Bole, 25, from Stockton-on-Tees, set off on an ill-prepared expedition to the Amazon with no planning or survival skills, relying on luck and local hospitality to make it out alive.
Bole travelled to Colombia and then took a small flight to Mitú, a town near the rainforest, intending to cross the river to Brazil by boat. However, the wet season made conditions treacherous, and after three days, the boat's motor broke, leaving him stranded in the remote indigenous village of lauaretê, where locals speak the little-known Tariana language.
“I genuinely thought I was going to die there,” Bole told Luxury Travel Daily. He spent nearly three weeks in one spot, battling constant rain and paranoia. A kind local offered him shelter, food, and a bed, despite the language barrier. Bole communicated with the man’s son, who spoke some Portuguese.
His escape came when a military aircraft arrived to transport an injured villager to a hospital in Brazil, and Bole was offered a seat. Now back in the UK, he has lost over a stone in weight and his skin is still recovering from insect bites, but he says the experience has only made him “hungry for more adventure.”
Bole, who shares his travels with 296,000 TikTok followers, acknowledged the risks: “I do think it was only a matter of time before I got malaria or yellow fever.” Despite the ordeal, he praised the locals’ hospitality and remains undeterred.
