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 Brevard County Woman is proud to bring you one of our stories for Mar-Apr 2010 

Expedition Amazon, An Unforgettable Journey

            With Mickey Grosman leading EXPEDITION AMAZON, a team of 8 individuals with an adventurer’s spirit experienced an unforgettable journey! This adventure trip took them into the rural jungle and allowed them to experience the wild, first-hand, while using survival skills. It’s an adventure that has allowed them to conquer their fears and challenge themselves beyond their personal limits.
            From the snowcap glaciers of the Andes, specifically Mount Cotopaxi, at 16,000 feet, down to the remote jungle of the Amazon basin at about sea level, EXPEDITION AMAZON is all about daily challenges. The team does a fair amount of extreme expeditions, some of which includes hiking 10 miles a day in dense jungle environment - mainly over rough terrain. Other activities include mountain climbing, off-road mountain biking, white water rafting and rappelling of waterfall cascades that reach as high as 300 feet. They maneuver their way along the Amazon Basin Rivers by using primitive dugout canoes and self-built Balsa rafts. They practice jungle survival skills as they interact with the remote Amazonian indigenous tribes and encounter endless wildlife, fauna and flora the rainforest offers. Anacondas, Jaguars, Monkeys, Piranhas and toucans are only few to mention.

 About Mickey Grosman, ECO-PLANET ADVENTURE Founder
            Years ago, with a far-reaching vision and lots of imagination, Mickey Grosman began dreaming of Xtreme Challenge Adventures in locations where footprints of men are sparse, yet tracks of wildlife are always abundant. His urge for challenges kept him coming back to the Amazon Rainforest where he was inspired to spread the thrill of Eco-adventures travel and the passion for Ecuador’s wild nature with adventurers like himself.
            Months of preparations, logistics, innovations and creativity, while staying in the rural jungle and living among the Amazon indigenous, resulted in this amazing adventure. Mickey’s life experience and years of service in the IDF-Israeli Defense Special Forces, accompanied by his immense energy and endless courage, prepared him to overcome any obstacles on his way to achieve such a dream-adventure.

 About the Amazon Basin Indigenous
            Sharing his Eco-adventure plans and logistical solutions with his friends of the Amazon, Mickey found the indigenous to be very curious but somewhat skeptical. No travelers before have dared to visit their land located deep within the dense jungle. Logistically, having travelers coming to their location was impossible, as no roads lead into the remote Rainforest, nor have any river routes followed directly from civilization back to their neck of the woods. Mickey presented the tribes with his eco-adventure plans and technical solutions while focusing on the creation of a coexistent relationship between Nature, the Amazon indigenous, and Eco-planet adventurers.
            Understanding their culture and traditional values by listening to their needs, Eco-Planet Adventures supports the development of ecotourism among the small remote communities of Ecuador and provides them with an alternative source of income and a direct economic incentive that strongly and undoubtedly benefits the Rainforest conservation and reforestation.
            The indigenous of the Amazon basin that host EXPEDITION AMAZON are grateful for the support and care pointed in their direction, in the shape and in the name of Eco-challenge adventures. They are fully involved in the daily activities of the adventures and share with them their life experience in the forest.

 For more information on Eco-Planet Adventures, visit their website or join them on Facebook to follow ongoing expeditions and view video from the most recent trip in February/March. www.ecoplanetadventure.com (www.facebook.com/ecoplanetadventure)