Maladgue made the most of his break in the town of Tapaua, heading out to practice his fishing skills with locals Rodriguo, Ozivan and Lucas. “It is one of my Amazon goals to learn to be more self-sufficient and I would like to fish some food every day I paddle,” Maldague wrote.

Maldague prepared several days of rations in Manaus before he left, but these have now run out. He’s therefore dependent on buying simple food from villages or catching his own supper.

On June 28 he left Tapaua for his next major stop, Labrea, 466 miles (750km) away. He is aiming to reach Labrea in 20 days. “It’s a bit of a challenge to make it that fast,” Maldague explained, but he identified a few shortcuts and believes it is possible.

Setting off, he has found that water levels are slowly dropping, giving him easier access to land and camping spots each night. On July 7, Maldague checked in from the small community of Foz de Tapaua.

Maldague’s shortcuts have mostly been successful in shaving time and distance from his journey, but one proved a bad decision because of the lower water levels. The shortcut, though promising in satellite images, was mostly dried up. “Yesterday morning I took one [a shortcut] that I shouldn’t have, it was pure chaos! The picture will speak for itself. I didn't lose any time in the end but the energy spent was way above what should have been.”