Amazonia is the geographical area surrounding the Amazon river and its tributaries. This vast area includes portions of Peru, Venezuela, Colombia, Bolivia, Suriname, French Guiana, Guyana and a huge chunk of Brazil. Orient yourself with this interactive map from Expedia.
Many travelers begin their Amazon experience either in Iquitos, Peru or in Manaus, Brazil, flying in from Lima or Rio de Janeiro or other destinations. Others begin at the "end of the line", in Belém or Macapa, where the Amazon flows into the Atlantic Ocean. Still others prefer Santarém.
Once at the embarkation point, travelers have the option of riverboats, jungle cruises, and lodges or a combination designed to
see as much as possible within a few days.
Amazonia is a wonderland for botanists, birders, scientists, ecologists, tourists, anthropologists, archaeologists, gold-seekers, explorers and the curious. Sports enthusiasts enjoy whitewater rafting, kayaking, jungle walks and fishing.
Amazonia is hot and humid. Rainfall is a given. Travelers to the area must expect the inconveniences that go with heat and moisture: insects, parasites, mud, less than hygienic conditions, possible claustrophobia from being surrounded by forest, stomach disorders and other ailments. To find out if you are a good candidate for an
Amazon adventure, take the Should I Go To The Amazon quiz by author Pamela Bloom.
Amazonia is:
"responsible for 50% of the renovated oxygen on Earth, and its
hydrographic basin contains over 1000 rivers and lakes, no less than one fifth of the
fresh water reserves on Earth. The Amazon is one of Nature's favourite shows, filled
with the most exuberant flora and fauna known to man: thousands of noble century old
trees where nearly 15,000 species of animals live; among them 1,800 bird species,
2,000 kinds of mammals and 1,500 types of fish."
Peru
"The largest of the world's rivers in terms of volume of water
discharged into the sea is the Amazon. This mightiest of rivers
forms a network of water channels that permeates nearly half
the continent of South America. The main river is some 4,080
miles long, second only to the Nile in length. It is fed by more
than 1,000 tributaries, including seven that are more than 1,000
miles long, and it drains more than half of Brazil, as well as
parts of Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia and Venezuela. Its
total drainage basin of some 2,722,000 square miles and
encompasses about one-0third of South America,an area more
than 10 times the size of Texas and nearly as large as the
entire contiguous United States. Over most of this vast region
the climate is very warm and humid. Rain falls about 200 days
each year, and total rainfall exceeds 80 inches per year. One
result of so much rain is that Amazonia is covered by the largest
tropical rain forest in the world. Another result is that the river
carries by far the largest volume of water of any river in the
world. On the average, some 28 billion gallons per minute flow
into the sea, about 10 times the flow of the Mississippi. The
discharge is so great that it noticeably dilutes the salinity of the
Atlantic's waters for more than 100 miles offshore."
Amazon Basin
Since the Amazon begins as tiny streams in the Andes of Peru, this is where we'll start.
