madre de dios river (mother of god)

Married less than two years, the author and her husband decided they wanted a honeymoon adventure. They set out for South America, including the Amazon River. When their plane crashes on the way to their next destination, they are stranded in a town in the middle of nowhere. Boats are infrequent and they would have to wait months for the next one. They decide to take a stranger's suggestion and build a raft to take them down the Amazon to their next destination, which, he assures them, will be easy. Ready for a new adventure, they are excited as they set off. Soon their excitement turns to horror and despair as a storm pushes their raft into a dead-end channel of the piranha-infested River Madre de Dios (Mother of God). Without the means of a motor or paddles, they wait for death as they slowly starve to death for twenty-six days. Only a chance encounter with two natives saves their lives.