Page 40 - RADC 2017

Amazonas Expedition
Capt Varinder Bassi, RADC
The world’s largest tropical rainforest. Home to 390 billion individual trees. Producer of 20% of the world’s oxygen. Home to indigenous tribes that have never had contact with the outside world.
The Amazon.
When the opportunity to explore a remote part of this region arose, there was not
a moment’s hesitation in submitting my application. It was only once I found that I had been accepted onto the expedition, that I considered the numerous things that may try to bite, poison or eat me! By that stage, it was too late to back out.
The expedition was run by the Scientific Exploration Society and needed a Dentist amongst other professionals for aid and scientific research.
Before I was to get anywhere near
was the small matter of having to pack a dental surgery into a suitcase. We were advised at a pre-expedition meeting that we would need to be prepared to treat up to four-hundred patients across several different villages in basic brick buildings. Deciding what and how much of anything to take was a challenge, but advice from previous Dental Officers who had been on similar expeditions proved invaluable.
In addition to the dental kit, an extensive personal kit list was issued. Strict instruction not to include any MTP, for fear of being
shot by Colombian drug barons, meant much begging, borrowing and stealing.
Our expedition began with a flight out of Heathrow to Colombia’s capital Bogota. The night in a plush hotel here would unfortunately be the last luxury afforded to us for the next three weeks. The quality of the accommodation would steadily decline as we delved deeper into the Amazon.
The following day was spent exploring Bogota and getting to know the other expedition members. This included a visit to the Gold Museum which showcased
EXPEDITION
boarding a plane however, there
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