The Amazon river and its rainforest basin
The Amazon river
Its water flows brown and muddy, it is the ocean river with miles of unending water from side to side. Visibility is impaired by its extent. It irrigates the lowland tropics of South America in such a way that its basin holds the greatest rainforest of the face of the earth.
For many people the Amazon river and its rainforest basin is diferent things.
For non indigenous people who live in cities
- Worlds water supply (greatest total flow of water of any river)
- Largest river on earth
- Most important tropical rainforest on the planet
- Worlds greatest wilderness
- Lungs of the world
For scientists and researchers
- Natural medicine pharmacy
- Biodiversity hot spot
- Source of 60% of all animal species
For ecologists and conservationists
- An oasis in the desert the world is turning into
- An area to protect from the human predator
For natives and indigenous tribes
It is home, school, a way of life - a living model of mother earth in the words of Manoel Fernandes a shaman of the Tucano indian tribe in Tabatinga, Brazilian Amazon. It is a world in itself full of life of its own, housing unknown species and unexplored areas the forest is sacred and secretive.
The mighty river and its tributaries are a source of transportation, food, water, spirituality. It is the source life itself for the tribes and species that inhabit these tropical lowlands of South America.
There are dozens of indigenous tribes split into countless fragments by their quest for food. Because of the difficulty of hunting and gathering food, the indigenous inhabitants probably have a population density no higher than one person to every 13 km² (5 sq. miles) of territory.
They have protected their forest for centuries, only taking what the forest could give. Today things have changed and continue to change:
The Amazon urgently needs to be protected!
Unfortunately not everyone sees the Amazon in the good eyes of city people, scientists, researchers, ecologists, conservationists and natives. There also exists the logger, the hunter, the cattle hearder, oil companies and others who consider this source of life as a source of income in the short term. Others who do not consider the life of the survival of the Amazon as part of our survival.
What is the Amazon to us?
At Latin Trails we see the Amazon as the ultimate frontier for exploration. A place where one feels small and insignificant next to giant trees. A concert room where a choir composed of the sounds of the forest floods our senses. Where we become one with nature and learn to respect our home - Mother Earth.
We see the Amazon as beauty and life. A land of mysteries with ancient cultures, rich botanical resources and a jungle teeming with wildlife. The Amazon river has thousands of species of fish, its jungle basin holds the mighty Anaconda and other dozens of reptiles, 2.5 million insect species, tens of thousands of plants, and some 2000 birds and mammals.
The mighty Amazon is not a river it is a thousand rivers that flow together from its inception in the Andes - some say from the Mismi ice cape in Peru, others from Cotopaxi in Ecuador - it runs thousands of miles until it reaches the Atlantic ocean. It is a rainbow where the colours of many rivers mingle and join to form the largest source of fresh water on the planet.
The Amazon needs our help! in an urgent matter.
By visiting the Amazon, we are helping to save it. Tourism money will help convince locals that a live jaguar, manatee or river dolphin is worth far more in tourist dollars or euros than its skin or meat. Our visits will show governments that the forest can earn money in the long term not just the short term.
Join us on our natural history expeditions, explore and help protect the worlds greatest wilderness on an adventure cruise. A visit to the Amazon will change your life and the way you see our planet!