From Iquitos, the point farthest inland for shallow draft-freighters and passenger vessels, the river changes course, heading east in a course somewhat parallel to the Equator. From here, the river is known as the Solimoes as far as its junction with the Rio Negro near Manaus.
This joining of the waters is where the silt-laden Rio Solimoês meet and run side by side for some miles before they finally mix. This is the famed Wedding of the Waters or Encontro das Aguas.
Only after the two great rivers merge, do they become the Amazon.
