© Jon Williams

Regular blog readers will remember my chat with journalist and adventurer Pip Stewart earlier this year, when Pip was gearing up for a world-first attempt to paddle the length of Guyana’s Essequibo River. Since then, Pip and expedition teammates Laura Bingham and Ness Knight successfully became the first people ever to paddle the Essequibo from its source in the Acarai Mountains to the Atlantic Ocean – a 1014km journey. *High-five*

To catch-up on her Essequibo adventure, Pip managed to squeeze me in for a chat ahead of her talk at Kendal Mountain Festival tomorrow. We chatted about the challenges of remote jungle expeditions, being open about fear and how, after contracting leishmaniasis, she’s on a mission to raise awareness of the flesh-eating disease.