Somewhere on the Amazon River

Well, here we are, slowly cruising down a river in one of the most amazing places on earth. The Amazon is home to over 300,000 different species of trees. I can't even remember all the amazing facts I heard at a lecture this morning, but boy was I impressed. A couple that I remember: there is the equivalent of 275,000 ten ton dump trucks of sediment being carried down this river EVERY DAY! There is enough fresh water flowing into the ocean every day to provide all of New York city's water needs for NINE years! One analogy that was used-- the River moves the equivalent of 300,000 soccer balls (each a cubic foot in size) of sediment every SECOND! I cannot remember the numbers of different species of flowers to be found here-- around 30,000 I believe..

The River is a muddy brown- or if you're romantic- a cafe o'leit color --because of the huge amount of sediment in the water. There is fresh water 110 miles outside of the river as it flows into the ocean the outflow is so great! It is still the rainy season here (always rains but there is a season where it rains a little less). Thus, you see a great deal of floating debris/vegetation in the water. Small huts are built on stilts close to the bank to avoid rising waters in the rainier of times. When we get off the ship, we will be in a surprisingly large city, Manaus, in the heart of Brazil and the Amazon River basin. The Amazon supplies 20% of the world's fresh water! There is much to be amazed and awed by this great region-- including how the first Europeans in the 1500's managed to travel so far in a land they knew nothing about. They were successful in coming in from the ocean and going all the way to Manaus , which is about halfway down the main branch of the river--mostly looting and pillaging as they went.

We do a tour tomorrow afternoon so I'll try to remember the more interesting facts!

The first photo is of a moth who is hitching a ride underneath the lip of the whirlpool at the rear of the ship! Photos are not really interesting yet because it's just mile after mile of jungle river bank and brown water. Duffy is relaxing with her book and Bill is at a lecture on the Gershwins! More tomorrow!