De-mything the Amazon

We fear what we don’t know. In travel, as we grow our curiosity for the world, overcoming fear, misconception and unawareness are often part of the process. Few places embody this tension more powerfully than the Amazon.

A vast, unknowable river world. A land of abundance and promise. A hostile and dangerous wilderness. Constant risk of death. A territory inhabited by powerful Indigenous societies. A resource reservoir. Alive, and indifferent to human dreams, resisting domination and exposing human fragility. For centuries, he Amazon has been imagined through the eyes of those who came to conquer or explore it. Be it the early days of the Spanish conquest, with Francisco de Orellana’s river expedition in the 1540s, or Carlos Fermín Fitzcarrald, the Peruvian rubber baron from the 1900s – or even Herzog’s romanticized version of him. It is high time to dismantle these inherited narratives and approach the Amazon from the inside out.

What is the Amazon?

The Amazon is the largest tropical rainforest and river basin on Earth. At its core lies the mighty Amazon River, which surpass the Nile in volume and, based on the most recent researches, in extension as well. So it’s not only a dense rainforest but also a mosaic of ecosystems and a complex river system. It is twice the size of India and if it was a country, it would be the 7th largest in the world.

Where is the Amazon? 

The Amazon extends across several South American countries: Brazil, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Bolivia, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname and into French Guiana. Brazil is home to 60% of the Amazon, which covers nearly half of the country’s territory. Peru comes in second, holding 11% of the forest, but that covers more than 60% of its territory. In the other extreme, the Guyanas are nearly 100% Amazonian, yet make up only 1.5-3% of the forest overal.

Weather

The average temperature is 83 °F (28°C), and humidity is constantly high, around 80%, which can make it feel hotter. It’s a year-round destination which doesn’t really follow seasons but rather cycles of rain.

When it rains, it floods 

The Amazon is not called a rainforest for nothing. Here is how it goes: the warmth of the Atlantic Ocean produces intense evaporation that loads clouds with humidity. Impulsed by the Trade winds the clouds make their way into the forest where they… let it rain. Then they recharge again with the forest’s humidity and evaporation, continuing their journey west until they hit the Andes. The rain that pours there is essential to the formation and maintenance the source of the Amazon river and its tributaries. The clouds ricochet in the Andes and are pushed South bringing rain to parts of the continent that would be desertic if it wasn’t for the Amazon, and also back to the Atlantic Ocean.

Rain is cultural and expected. In Manaus or Belém – large urban centres in the Brazilian Amazon – appointments are often made before or after the daily afternoon rain during the wet season, which runs from January to June. Yet, it is not an impediment to visit the region as rain is constant but doesn’t last for the whole day. Plus, flooded rivers allow you to canoe through flooded forest, having tree canopies within reach.

River ecosystems 

One important factor when visiting the Amazon is which river ecosystem(s) you will be exposed to:

White water rivers: Sediment-rich, nutrient-loaded rivers descending from the Andes, with the Amazonas River being its most prominent example. The waters appear muddy and attract mosquitos which consequently attract all the other animals on the food chain, making it the best ecosystem for spotting wildlife. The nutrients in the water also support fertile floodplains therefore its margins are dense in human occupation.

Black water rivers: Acidic and low in nutrients with tea-colored waters from decomposing vegetation. With a low pH and warmer temperatures (around 83 °F/28°C), there is a very low food supply for mosquitos making them rare in these waters.  Swimming is possible in some particular spots and the difference in water density is perceptible.

Clear water rivers: At first it feels surreal to think crystal clear waters can be found in the Amazon, as a beach holiday is not what  you may have been imagining. Clear waters are mostly found in the Brazilian Amazon where the Tapajós river and its tributaries are often call the Brazilian Caribbean, due to its sandy floor, transparent water and gorgeous swimmable conditions.

So, yes, it is swimmable! 

But you should always ask for permission and follow the locals instructions. But swimming is possible and highly recommended, especially in the Brazilian Amazon.

Wildlife

It is estimated that nearly 10% of the world’s known species are found in the Amazon, from fish to mammals, thousands of birds and reptiles. Naturally, due to food supply chain, the Amazon creatures are more easily spotted in white waters such as piranhas and dense fish population, capybaras, caimans, turtles, sloths, primates and abundant birdlife. Yet, larger mammals such as jaguars, giant anteaters and tapirs, which are also part of the Amazon fauna, are much harder to spott as they tend to keep to themselves. In dark waters, expect pink river dolphins and primates moving moving through flooded forest canopies; while in clear waters freshwater rays, river turtles, and fish are easier to spot thanks to its transparency. And no, encounters with anacondas are not as common as you may think.

Terra preta: the black gold  

There are about 400 billion trees standing in the Amazon and nearly 40,000 plant species. Perhaps the most curious factor is the soil: black soil or terra preta, a highly fertile, human-manipulated soil found across the forest, believed to be ‘created’ by the indigenous people in the pre-Columbian times through the long-term accumulation of charcoal, organic waste, pottery fragments, and food residues. Unlike the naturally nutrient-poor tropical soils surrounding it, terra preta retains moisture and nutrients for centuries, and locals and scholars agree that this is evidence of large, sedentary indigenous settlements, and also the human-manipulation of the forest itself, making it much more resistant and adaptable to climate change.

Mosquitoes

The incidence of mosquitoes is related to the river ecosystems, water pH, and the lack of breeze. And although dusk remain the universal mosquito time, in the Amazon you are constantly on the move so even if visiting regions with white water rivers, mosquito bites are likely not a souvenir you will be bringing home.

People

For much of the 20th century, it was believed that only small nomad groups lived in the region due to its complexity. But in fact nearly 10 million people lived across the basin, speaking hundreds – possibly over a thousand –  languages in pre-Columbian days, actively engineering the landscapes to enhance fertility, regulate water, and concentrate biodiversity. Beyond that, recent LiDAR surveys have also revealed networks of roads, plazas, and settlement clusters hidden beneath the forest canopy, suggesting forms of urbanism adapted to tropical conditions rather than absent from them. Yet, the Amazon history remains full of mysteries.

Nowadays, it’s estimated that 2-3 million indigenous people from 400 different indigenous groups live in the Amazon. Although globalization and the post-modern world has arrived in the forest, with social media and Starlink internet widespread, the indigenous peoples remain guardians of the forest and still live by traditional precepts.  They worship their food, their festivities and communal traditions. They respect their territory and fight to protect it. They are also highly articulate, often participate in political discussions and have actually reached high political posts in some countries such as Bolivia and Brazil. So the idea of visiting isolated indigenous communities – although some uncontacted groups do still live in the Amazon, in far more remote areas – is not what you should expect. Yet, a meeting with the people of the forest might be one of the highlights of your journey.

Were any of my preconceptions correct?

The enchanted creatures! Across the Amazon basin, many indigenous peoples process the world through cosmovision. Rather than seeing the forest as a backdrop to human life, cosmovision understands rivers, animals, plants, the wind, the rain and the forest itself as beings with agency, memory, and intention. Humans are therefore participants in a relational network rather than its centre, while the river and forest spirits have names and humanized or anthropomorphic looks. They served as guides, and promoted ecological ethics, and they also explain the origins of the world and each of the indigenous groups. The Curupira (Brazil) or Chullachaqui (Peru), for example, is a sensation felt in the forest such as a strong wind, a whistle, a scream or a particular smell by those who enter it without asking for permission, or who are exploring it in a predatorial way. So when you hike in the forest, its common that your local guide leaves woven straw behind as a gift to curupira.