H.J. Ruiz – Avian101

The Remote Amazon in Peru – Part # 1 of 3

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Photo Gallery

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NOTE: The Amazon River  in South America is the largest river by discharge volume of water in the world, and the disputed longest river system in the world in comparison to the Nile. The headwaters of the Apurímac River on Nevado Mismi had been considered for nearly a century as the Amazon basin’s most distant source, until a 2014 study found it to be the headwaters of the Mantaro River on the Cordillera Rumi Cruz in Peru. The Mantaro and Apurímac rivers join, and with other tributaries form the Ucayali River, which in turn meets the Marañón River upstream of Iquitos, Peru, forming what countries other than Brazil consider to be the main stem of the Amazon.

1 – Departing from the port of Iquitos, capital of Loreto in Peru where the Amazon River is formed. Navigating due East.

2 – One of the ships used to enter an affluent river, in order to start hike to camp.

3 – There are some people that live in floating houses and boats at the edge of the river and cultivate rice paddies. Natives of this area.

4 – These are part of the corridors used in the dorms and headquarters of the Camp. All buildings are built on platforms, using materials from the Amazon Rainforest, about a dozen feet above the ground. The rains are intense and water needs to run free.

5 – These are our rooms where we had to sleep. There are no windows, one shower per room, with a barrel filled with rain water, to shower and wash. (One time I was in a hurry to take a shower because I was dirty with mud, (something that happens in this place), so I ran to take a shower and found a hairy tarantula on the wall of the stall after I was in it.) All meals were in the mess room. One or two cots per room with individual mosquito netting, one table and gas lamp per room, toilets were communal, with a door. We had people that washed our clothes and cleaned.

6 – This was a hut where we had an armed guard at all times.

7 – This is something that happen frequently in the Amazon Rainforest, ominous dark clouds loaded with water bring the rain. Notice the waters of the river already turning darker from the mud going down river.

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© HJ Ruiz – Avian101 – Wikipedia