Imagine that you are traveling along the Amazon River. Excursions to the Amazonian jungle
At school, we were all taught - do not argue with the elders, 2x2 = 4, the most long river Nile. Times are changing, maps are being rewritten, there are fewer white spots on our planet. Brazilian scientists have discovered a new starting point for the Amazon. They claim that it is the South American river that is the longest. Now we have to rewrite textbooks. My journey along the legendary river began with a yellow fever vaccination and buying all kinds of insect sprays. The Amazon Basin is home to the world's largest wet a tropical forest with all its flying, crawling, growling, jumping and roaring inhabitants. Locals in Brazil joke: "If you see a sparrow in the Amazon, you know - it's not a sparrow, it's a mosquito!". 
We were loaded into a boat and we sailed along Atlantic Ocean To South America. Most of the Amazon basin belongs to Brazil, but the famous river takes its origins in Peru, and in the west it also manages to capture three more countries - Bolivia, Ecuador and Colombia. This allows us to consider the Amazon not just the most full-flowing river in the world, but a real water empire washing the territories of five states. We went to the Amazon reverse side where it flows into the ocean. Down up. The route is Belen, Boca de Valeria, Santarem, Parintis, Manaus. 
I liked the connection of two rivers. Not even a connection, but a meeting - they walk side by side, white and black, seething, flirting, but they don’t climb into the soul. That would be so for people. The waters of the Amazon are usually called "white" - because of the huge amount of silt carried by the river, the water becomes very cloudy, opaque and seems light. In this regard, a very funny effect can be observed near the city of Manaus. At the confluence of the Rio Negro Amazon, the water of which, on the contrary, is very clear and, as a result, seems almost black (hence the name of the river), the waters of these two most powerful rivers do not mix for a long time and for 15 kilometers down the Amazon from Manaus you can see how in parallel, in the same channel, two multi-colored rivers flow. 
Why can't you swim in the Amazon? Because the famous baby piranha lives there, terrifying local residents, about which they say that one big crocodile is better than three small piranhas. Actually this is a myth. Piranhas don't eat people. I bought a souvenir for 2 USD - similar to our dried and varnished vobla. On the third day, the piranha started to stink. 
All life is centered on the river. Here they are born, grow up, marry, fish, herd water buffalo, wash, pray and die. On boats they go to school, to the market, to church, to visit. And distances are calculated not in kilometers or miles, but in time. 3 days to Santarem, 2 hours to the village. In the villages, rubber is harvested, cassava, sugarcane and corn are grown. 
The famous Water buffalo, they are also called Indian buffaloes. The lifestyle of the Indian buffalo is closely associated with water bodies, preferably with stagnant or slowly flowing water. In the morning and evening, during the cool hours, buffaloes graze, and aquatic vegetation sometimes makes up to 70% of the food, and they lie down to their heads in liquid mud during the hot part of the day. The number of Indian buffalo is constantly declining. The main reason for this is not hunting, which is limited and carried out according to strict quotas, but habitat destruction, plowing and settlement of remote areas. There are fewer and fewer places where a wild buffalo can live in a natural setting. I also learned that the famous Italian mozzarella cheese, according to the correct recipe, is made from buffalo milk. 
The Portuguese, who arrived in the Amazon, searched in vain for gold in these places. But two hundred years later, their descendants found something that was absolutely useless in the 17th century, but in the 20th century turned the Amazon into a real Klondike, making its inhabitants for a while the richest people their country and even the world. It was rubber. The word "rubber" comes from two words of the Tupi-Guarani language: "kau" - a tree, "I teach" - to flow, to cry. "Kauchu" is the juice of hevea, the first and most important rubber plant. Rubber plants grow best within 10° north and south of the equator. Therefore, this 2500 km wide band is known as the "rubber belt". Here, natural rubber is mined and supplied for sale to all countries of the world to this day. The “rubber business” owes its prosperity to the invention in 1888. John Boyd Dunlop of pneumatic tires and the mass motorization of Europe and America at the end of the 19th century. The automotive industry needed hundreds of thousands of rubber tires. And rubber-bearing hevea - the only source of rubber in those days - grew only in the Amazon selva. From Nikolai Verzilin's book “Journey with Houseplants”: “The rubber collector, or “seringero”, who owes the “rubber company” for travel, receives a hatchet and a bag of clothes on credit and heads for the forest. The rubber collector has to wander a lot through the forest in search of heveas, since they do not grow in a continuous forest, but stand at a distance of 20 - 100 meters from each other. One hevea tree is lost among a hundred trees of other species. One person barely manages to process about forty trees a day, sometimes walking more than ten to fifteen kilometers. V-shaped or oblique notches are made on the hevea, under which clay vessels concave on one side are hung, looking like swallow nests. An average of twenty to forty grams of milky juice flows into the vessel per day. The incisions must be refreshed or new ones made higher than the old ones, as the juice coagulates and tightens the incision on the bark. Seringero, extracting hevea juice, processes it himself into rubber.” 
Some city sketches: Manaus and Santarem. According to Wikipedia, in the Amazon, 47% of the population lives below the poverty line. Manaus is the capital of the Amazon. The opera house in the capital - everything is in order with the cultural program. 
There are many attractions for tourists: all kinds of river tours, jungle trekking, piranha fishing, night hunting for caimans. 
More recently, the news showed the British traveler Ed Stafford walking along the Amazon in 859 days. During this time, Stafford managed to meet caimans and anacondas, was captured by the Indians, experienced hunger, illness, and, according to personal estimates, was bitten by mosquitoes 50,000 times. Knowing what the Amazonian jungle looks like, I can imagine what a brave and crazy person you have to be to decide on this and complete it without sacrifice. I personally admire such people. I would not want to get lost and stay in such thickets. Through the thick leaves and weaves of vines under the crowns of trees, little light penetrates, and lush vegetation makes it difficult to move around, completely depriving you of orientation. To move even a short distance, you often need to cut a road. 
Sad sloth, saying goodbye, winks at us!
If you have reached Brazil and continue to travel across the South American mainland, then one of the most exciting and dangerous adventures will be waiting for you in the Amazon. The most vivid and unforgettable impressions can be obtained only by getting to know the jungle from the inside, feeling its power and strength, meeting many dangers and beauties on your way.
The Amazon is considered one of the longest rivers in the world. It is unique in its fullness, since all tributaries, flowing down from the mountain ranges, form the strongest streams of water and eventually flow into the Atlantic.
Getting through the jungle is quite difficult. As such, there is no population, roads, and civilization in general. Most often, they travel by swimming in the Amazon, not everyone is at risk to enter the jungle, since there are no trails there, or they overgrow very quickly. Very often, tourists explore the Amazon from the air, flying over it in helicopters and other air transport. But this is not as exciting as traveling along the river bank.
Lungs of the whole planet
Even if you live in New York or in general on the other half the globe, one can indirectly benefit from the invisible functions of the Amazon that it performs to maintain the Earth. There are invisible systems that are important to the environment and have a huge impact on it. The forest is the provision of all these essential aspects.
One of the functions of forests is that they should be the "lungs of the world" and absorb greenhouse gases. In addition, the forest absorbs groundwater through its roots and releases its atmosphere - this is what is commonly called flying rivers that help in cooling the Earth's atmosphere. Brazil has been struggling with deforestation for a long time. The Amazon forest goes far beyond its physical beauty. There are invisible treasures of interconnected systems, like the flying rivers of the Nobre that give life to other micro-organisms. The Amazon rainforest is closely related to the world's climate, the products we buy and the paper we use.
Amazon ships
To travel in the Amazon, you can use the services of Amazonian ships. They come in completely different classes and speeds. The most expensive way to travel is by high-speed water transport, since in a day you can completely cross the entire Amazon. However, this type of transport is quite expensive, and not every tourist can afford it. Those who want to swim along the river longer turn their attention to "lunches", the so-called large cargo-passenger ships that can go along the river for up to 3 days, mostly against the current. The lower decks of such vessels are filled with cargo or luggage, while the upper decks are intended for people. The most interesting and unusual thing is the way the tourists are located. In "lunches" tourists ride right in hammocks. Can you imagine?
Advice. Traveling on Amazonian ships, you should not leave them for a long time during stops. The ships do not have a schedule as such, which means there is a risk of being late and staying with the natives.
What you need to know so that a trip to the Amazon brings only positive emotions?
1. Firstly, you need to issue entry documents (stamp) in advance.
2. Secondly, take more money, because while staying in remote villages, good and fast water transport costs a lot of money.
3. Look for fellow travelers, it's more fun, cheaper and safer with them.
4. Think over the logistics in advance so that there is no incident on the road.
5. If you are planning a trip through the jungle, don't forget to protect your legs from snakes, stock up on medicines and water.
Having visited Brazil, it is impossible to forget it. A lot of impressions, exotic wild animals that hide in the jungle, villages on the plateau, crocodile for dinner. Rarely where you can feel such flavor as on the banks of the Amazon. Is not beach holiday, this is a drive and adrenaline that goes off scale with the onset of twilight. You don't know how to hunt a crocodile yet? Don't worry, the Amazon will teach you this!
Are you tired of spending your holidays on the Internet or being bored in the country? It's time to change your life outdoor activities. Choose the exotic Amazon and you will find yourself as if in a parallel universe. You will hardly see such curiosities as there. The spicy and floral aromas of the jungle, the excess of oxygen can turn your head. It is because of these sensations that tourists come from all over the world.
Journey through the Amazon - following the adventure
Before you head into the jungle, first stop at the Amazonian capital of Manaus. In the city you are also waiting for sights, and the local famous theater. And at the hotel, you immediately look for a guide who will not only tell fascinating stories about the Amazon, but also protect you from possible dangers. For example, you may not know about all the poisonous animals or plants that the Amazon is also rich in. In addition, if you go for a walk in the jungle, then only a guide can take you away from the swamps or from possible landslides. Some obstacles are visible only to an experienced guide, and a tourist under impressions can be extremely inattentive.
By far the most common form of transportation in the Amazon is by boat or steamboat. Firstly, due to the fact that most of the roads are water, and secondly, tourists will be able to see more. Sometimes the trip can take several days.
If you also want to relax and unwind during your trip, buy a hammock in the port. But if it is important for you to sleep well, you can relax in the cabin for an additional fee.
Although railway transport Brazil is in decline, there are several tourist trains. If you do not want to constantly sail along the river, you can use this type of transport.
You will be offered the most popular travel routes in the Amazon:
1. Journey through the Green Mountains, departure from Curitiba and to the coast. Distance 110 kilometers.
2. You can take the train and go on a trip to the South Pantanal. Distance 220 kilometers.
3. And the third option, a trip between the mountains, as well as the opportunity to see the extraordinary and picturesque state of the "Holy Spirit" (Espiritu Santo).
In addition to long flights, there are also tourist high-speed trains that depart from Sao Paulo. In total there are three directions, choose to your liking. You will go on a trip in the morning, at about eight in the morning, and return back at five in the evening. You will ride along with guides who will talk about the sights. By the way, such a trip is inexpensive. You will be required only thirty reais, and if you travel with your family, then you will pay only fifteen reais for each family member. Therefore, you can afford all three excursions, of course, on different days.
Despite all the splendor of nature, without acclimatization you may not feel very well. Therefore, do not immediately rush into battle, but at least rest passively for a few days. Humidity is very high in the Amazon, and even if sometimes the temperature does not exceed 25-27 degrees, it will seem to you that it is very suffocating and hot here, and flower pollen can irritate the scent even more. If you are not sure that you can stay on the road for 4-5 days, start small, with the same weekend excursion, and then monitor your condition.
Journey through national parks Amazonia
If you are unsure that you want to find yourself in the wild jungle, it does not matter, you can admire nature in the Amazonian national parks. One of these parks is Zhau, which is part of the protected complex. Periodically, this park is flooded by the Amazon, and hundreds of animals and plants have found their home here. Finally, you will be able to see chocolate and milk trees, ferns and redwoods up close, on which sloths and opossums hang importantly, anteaters or armadillos roam the ground. And caimans rest near the water.
What does the flag of Brazil mean, its colors and inscription, more:.
For tourists there are different excursion programs, you can stay in the park for several hours, or you can travel for several days. It all depends on your strengths and capabilities. Try to purchase the minimum package first, if you like it, then return to Jau Park again.
Have you always been attracted not only by the jungle, but also by waterfalls? There is a heavenly place for you - Iguazu Falls Park. This national park recognized as another wonder of the world, and he deserved it. A few hours will not be enough for you to admire myriads of splashes and cascades of waterfalls. An unforgettable sight.
But that's not all, the state is also rich in other parks, no less fascinating and beautiful - Serra de Capivara, Emas and Chapada dos Veadeiros, and others. If you come to the Amazon for at least a month, you can see a lot. Better yet, come back to this wonderful world, at least once every few years, and you will become more cheerful, calm and peaceful. And also take a break from the hustle and bustle.
What to do while traveling in the Amazon?
1. Be sure to go fishing with the locals, hunt piranhas or crocodiles. As a last resort, buy a souvenir for a couple of dollars - a dried piranha.
2. Take a survival school with a guide or with the locals. You will be taught how to find edible fruits, identify poisonous animals and plants, and how to get water in the jungle.
3. Ask the guide to show you all the amazing plants, for example, the same Victoria water lily, which is more than 10 times larger than usual. It also has a delicious apricot flavor and edible grains.
4. There is one in the Amazon the only bridge, over 3.5 kilometers long, which stretches over the Rio Negro River, and connects the capital Manaus with another city of Iranduba. Be sure to cross the bridge.
What entertainment can be found in the Amazon?
Of course, in addition to observing nature or traveling along the Amazon River, you want to have a little fun. Is this possible in the conservative Amazon. Of course you can, especially if you stay in Manaus. You can visit the Museum of the Indians or the Museum of Man, the Museum of Numismatics, or the ancient theater. There is also an opera house "Teatro-Amazonas" in the capital of Amazonia. and you can buy a souvenir at the amazing floating market. For a good rest in the Amazon there is everything.
Traveling through the Amazon will be an unforgettable experience for you.
The last Indians of the Amazon, video:
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The total length of the river is over seven thousand kilometers, and the delta is the largest in the world. At the origins is the most big Island Amazons, it also contains the largest freshwater fish, river dolphins. The river is also known for its large water lilies. The Amazon was discovered (according to one of the versions) by the Spaniard-conquistador F. de Orellano in the 16th century. The reservoir got its name because of the tribe of female warriors who constantly attacked a detachment of conquistadors. Although the existence of the Amazons, as a real living tribe, has not been proven.
river queen
For a long time there were disputes between scientists about where the river originates. In the 1990s An expedition to the mountains of Peru was carried out, which established that the Amazon flows from the Apachete stream. Its waters flow into another river - Uyakali, and from it already into the Amazon itself.
In total, the queen of rivers has more than five hundred tributaries - rivers, streams, small reservoirs. One of them - Rio Negro at the confluence with the Amazon creates a two-color effect. The river is white on one side and dark on the other. The appearance of white color is associated with a huge amount of silt in the composition of the waters that the Amazon carries.
Animals and plants
Scientists have been studying the underwater world of the river for quite a long time and found that almost one third of the fish species on Earth live in it. On the banks and waters of the Amazon, one of the largest snakes is found - the anaconda, which has become the hero of numerous horror films. Generally, animal world rivers are dangerous for humans, especially where rain forests begin. Here travelers can become victims of caimans or anacondas.
In the rivers, piranhas pose a danger, which flock to the smell of blood in a matter of seconds. But at the same time, canoeing, catching piranhas for meat are the main amusements of tourists.
There are jungles along the banks of the river, among which Bolivia, Peru, Brazil, Ecuador and other states are lost. At any time of the year, this area is distinguished by picturesque views and greenery, which buoys due to numerous rainfall.
Settlements
Most of the Amazon passes through Brazil, where a large River port Manaus. One of the states of the state was named after the river, and it is here that you can see how the local Indian tribes live. In addition, streams of tourists flock here to personally see how the Amazon takes on two colors.
Mixing colors of the Amazon River
Another interesting place on the river is the Peruvian city of Iquitos, which can only be reached by river or by air. Most of the houses in the settlement are built on stilts, and are located among the streams of a raging river. The main population here are the Indians.
At school, we were all taught - do not argue with the elders, 2x2 = 4, the longest river is the Nile. Times are changing, maps are being rewritten, there are fewer white spots on our planet. Brazilian scientists have discovered a new starting point for the Amazon. They claim that it is the South American river that is the longest.
Now we have to rewrite textbooks. My journey along the legendary river began with a yellow fever vaccination and buying all kinds of insect sprays. The Amazon Basin is home to the world's largest rainforest, with all its creatures flying, crawling, growling, jumping and roaring. Locals in Brazil joke: "If you see a sparrow in the Amazon, you know - it's not a sparrow, it's a mosquito!".
We were loaded into a boat and we sailed across the Atlantic Ocean to South America. Most of the Amazon basin belongs to Brazil, but the famous river takes its sources in Peru, and in the west it also manages to capture three more countries - Bolivia, Ecuador and Colombia.
This allows us to consider the Amazon not just the most full-flowing river in the world, but a real water empire washing the territories of five states. We entered the Amazon from the other side - where it flows into the ocean. Down up. The route is Belen, Boca de Valeria, Santarem, Parintis, Manaus.
I liked the connection of two rivers. Not even a connection, but a meeting - they walk side by side, white and black, seething, flirting, but they don’t climb into the soul. That would be so for people. The waters of the Amazon are usually called "white" - because of the huge amount of silt carried by the river, the water becomes very cloudy, opaque and seems light.
In this regard, a very funny effect can be observed near the city of Manaus. At the confluence of the Rio Negro Amazon, the water of which, on the contrary, is very clear and, as a result, seems almost black (hence the name of the river), the waters of these two most powerful rivers do not mix for a long time and for 15 kilometers down the Amazon from Manaus you can see how in parallel, in the same channel, two multi-colored rivers flow.
Why can't you swim in the Amazon? Because the famous little piranha lives there, terrifying the locals, about which they say that one big crocodile is better than three small piranhas. Actually this is a myth. Piranhas don't eat people. I bought a souvenir for 2 USD - similar to our dried and varnished vobla. On the third day, the piranha started to stink.
All life is centered on the river. Here they are born, grow up, marry, fish, herd water buffalo, wash, pray and die. On boats they go to school, to the market, to church, to visit. And distances are calculated not in kilometers or miles, but in time. 3 days to Santarem, 2 hours to the village. In the villages, rubber is harvested, cassava, sugarcane and corn are grown.
The famous Water buffalo, they are also called Indian buffaloes. The lifestyle of the Indian buffalo is closely associated with water bodies, preferably with stagnant or slowly flowing water. In the morning and evening, during the cool hours, buffaloes graze, and aquatic vegetation sometimes makes up to 70% of the food, and they lie down to their heads in liquid mud during the hot part of the day.
The number of Indian buffalo is constantly declining. The main reason for this is not hunting, which is limited and carried out according to strict quotas, but habitat destruction, plowing and settlement of remote areas. There are fewer and fewer places where a wild buffalo can live in a natural setting. I also learned that the famous Italian mozzarella cheese, according to the correct recipe, is made from buffalo milk.
The Portuguese, who arrived in the Amazon, searched in vain for gold in these places. But two hundred years later, their descendants found something that was absolutely useless in the 17th century, but in the 20th century turned the Amazon into a real Klondike, making its inhabitants for some time the richest people in their country and even the world. It was rubber. The word "rubber" comes from two words of the Tupi-Guarani language: "kau" - a tree, "I teach" - to flow, to cry. Kauchu is the juice of Hevea, the first and most important rubber plant. Rubber plants grow best within 10° north and south of the equator. Therefore, this 2500 km wide band is known as the "rubber belt". Here, natural rubber is mined and supplied for sale to all countries of the world to this day.
The “rubber business” owes its prosperity to the invention in 1888. John Boyd Dunlop of pneumatic tires and the mass motorization of Europe and America at the end of the 19th century. The automotive industry needed hundreds of thousands of rubber tires. And rubber-bearing hevea - the only source of rubber in those days - grew only in the Amazon selva.
From Nikolai Verzilin's book “Journey with Houseplants”: “The rubber collector, or “seringero”, who owes the “rubber company” for travel, receives a hatchet and a bag of clothes on credit and heads for the forest. The rubber collector has to wander a lot through the forest in search of heveas, since they do not grow in a continuous forest, but stand at a distance of 20-100 meters from each other. One hevea tree is lost among a hundred trees of other species. One person barely manages to process about forty trees a day, sometimes walking more than ten to fifteen kilometers.
V-shaped or oblique notches are made on the hevea, under which clay vessels concave on one side are hung, looking like swallow nests. An average of twenty to forty grams of milky juice flows into the vessel per day. The incisions must be refreshed or new ones made higher than the old ones, as the juice coagulates and tightens the incision on the bark. Seringero, extracting hevea juice, processes it himself into rubber.”
Some city sketches: Manaus and Santarem. According to Wikipedia, in the Amazon, 47% of the population lives below the poverty line. Manaus is the capital of the Amazon. The opera house in the capital - everything is in order with the cultural program.
There are many attractions for tourists: all kinds of river tours, jungle trekking, piranha fishing, night hunting for caimans.
More recently, the news showed the British traveler Ed Stafford walking along the Amazon in 859 days. During this time, Stafford managed to meet caimans and anacondas, was captured by the Indians, experienced hunger, illness, and, according to personal estimates, was bitten by mosquitoes 50,000 times. Knowing what the Amazonian jungle looks like, I can imagine what a brave and crazy person you have to be to decide on this and complete it without sacrifice. I personally admire such people. I would not want to get lost and stay in such thickets. Through the thick leaves and weaves of vines under the crowns of trees, little light penetrates, and lush vegetation makes it difficult to move around, completely depriving you of orientation. To move even a short distance, you often need to cut a road.
Sad sloth, saying goodbye, winks at us!