DAY 62 Mar 15 - Cruising the Amazon River and Crossing the Equator

Later today we will have covered over 2000 miles meandering up and down the mighty Amazon. We finally leave this iconic waterway later tonight and head back through its massive delta (pictured above) to the Southern Atlantic Ocean.

It has been a wonderful adventure experiencing the significance of this dominant river in the incredible vast basin of rain forest and jungle it serves.

It has also been an eye opener to meet and observe some of the indigenous people in this their native tribal lands.

It is worth reflecting on where the source of this enormous river lies all those thousands of miles behind where we are now.(See map and its insert)

The most distant source of the Amazon was firmly established in 1996 and later confirmed in 2007 as a glacial stream on a snow capped 18,360 feet peak called Nevado Mismi in the Peruvian Andes, roughly 100 miles west of Lake Titicaca and 430 miles south east of Lima.

This picture below shows exactly where the Amazon originates from, the Apacheta cliff in Arequipa at the Nevado Mismi, with just a sole sign of a wooden cross to mark the spot.

The waters from Nevado Mismi flow into the Quebradas Carhuasanta and Apacheta, which in turn flow into the Río Apurímac which is a tributary of the Ucayali which later joins the Marañón to form the Amazon proper. (While this is the point at which most geographers place the beginning of the Amazon proper, in Brazil the river is known at this point as the Solimões das Águas).

Soon thereafter the darkly coloured waters of the Rio Negro meet the sandy coloured Rio Solimões, and for over 4 miles these waters run side by side without mixing.

The river systems and flood plains in Brazil, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia and Venezuela whose waters drain into the Solimões and its tributaries are called the "Upper Amazon".

The Amazon River proper runs mostly through Brazil and Peru, and it has tributaries reaching into Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, and Bolivia.

In 1541/42 the entire length of this great river was navigated for the first time by Spanish explorer Francisco de Orellana and a crew of 50 men. This was achieved over an eight-month period.

In the early 17th century the Portuguese slowly settled the Amazon Basin moving westward from the eastern coast of Brazil.

There are over 3,000 fish species in the Amazon Basin, 100 species of New World monkeys, and 5,000 species of trees. Only a fraction of its plant species has been catalogued. Many important medicines have been developed from plants found only in the Amazon.

Most days sunsets and sunrises on the Amazon have been amazing.

The clouds in the sky seem to reflect colour differently than we have normally experienced. The murky waters of the river also look quite different in the early morning and late evening sunshine.

The scattered single dwellings seen all along the banks of the river show the isolation of many of the Amazonian people although it would only be a short boat ride for them to a neighbouring home.

Boats are definitely the preferred and usually the only mode of transport in these parts.

For most of the day we stayed in our cabin, sitting on the balcony and generally having a very lazy day. The scenery was a little mono-tonous with just the river and the rain forest to view.

I played around with music from my MP3 player while Maria read her book.

It was not particularly sunny today but there was a strong wind blowing.

The Captain informed us that we were making good time and traveling at 21 knots due to the effect of a strong current pushing us along.

We did leave the cabin for lunch but didn’t spend too much time upstairs as were both a little tired and looking forward to an afternoon nap, as is the way for most people down here in the hot and sweaty Amazon.

It was announced that we would be passing the equator, moving from the southern hemisphere to the northern one, at about 4.30.

It is a traditional on cruise ships to hold some kind of acknow-ledgement of the event.

Often it is reserved for those passing over the middle of the earth for the first time.

At the appointed hour twenty or so playful passengers jointed the Cruise Director Tom and his team in the Lido Pool. Then at 4.40 the mighty horn of the Prinsendam sounded presumable indicating that we were right at latitude O degrees. At the same time a loud cheer went up from the assembled brethren.

Coinciding with this event a helicopter buzzed the ship a few times causing passengers to wonder whether it was Brazilian officialdom having a look at us or what?

I understand that we do still have on board immigration officials making a final inspection of our passports before leaving Brazilian territory.

The waterways were quite busy here with many freighters at anchor as we were passing the industrial town of Macapa at the beginning of the Amazon Delta.

It shouldn’t be too many hours now until we were once again in the Atlantic and leaving behind the exciting and exhilarating country of Brazil after our two week sojourn here.