An Amazon Journey The Amazon River stretches for 4 250 miles 6 840 km It is the second longest river in the world Thousands of animal species live in the river from piranha fish to pink river dolphins You will follow the river from its source high in the Andes Mountains to its mouth on the eastern coast of Brazil a Atlantic Caracas Ocean VENEZUELA Georgetown GUANA O SOUTH AMERICA O toget a COLOMBIA Quito Rio Negro Japura River EQUADORD Bellam Santarem River n River lautos Leticia A Janud Road Maranon River PERU unabamba Limala 1 Machu Picchu BRAZIL 1 Apurimac River OBrasilla La Paz BOLIVIA Pacific Ocean
A Mighty River The Amazon is so vast that it often seems more like a sea than a river Its width varies from 1 to 6 2 miles 1 6 to 10 km In the rainy season some places widen to more than 30 miles 48 km across On its journey it is joined by hundreds of other rivers called tributaries Where the Amazon enters the Atlantic Ocean its estuary measures 149 miles 240 km across nearly the same width as Lake Superior The Amazon Basin The area drained by the river is called the Amazon basin This covers about 40 percent of South America The Amazon basin is covered by tropical rain forest This forest is one of the richest sources of plant and animal life on Earth A Together with its tributaries the Amazon carries more water than any river in the world Naming the Amazon V The jaguar is one of millions of animal species found in the Amazon rainforest The first European to explore the Amazon was Francisco de Orellana a Spanish soldier in the 1540s Returning from his adventures Orellana told of fighting with fierce women warriors who lived in the Brazilian jungle The Spanish king Charles V later named the river Amazonas after the women warriors of Greek
BRAZIL The High Andes PERU a Your river adventure starts 3 LS high in the Andes Mountains of Peru Here the Amazon is fed by many different rivers called headwaters Pacific Ocean You ARE HERE The Amazon's Source The Amazon's source is a tiny stream on a volcanic mountain peak called Nevado Mismi At the foot of a cliff a simple wooden cross marks the spot where the river begins Swollen by rain and melted snow the stream turns into a fast flowing river Eventually it joins the Apurimac River This joins other rivers that feed into the Amazon farther north G A scientific expedition in 2001 confirmed this spot as the source of the Amazon
The city of Machu Picchu is one of the most important surviving relics of the Inca empire An Inca Stronghold The Inca rulers who built Machu Picchu chose the site well The city is surrounded on three sides by the Urubamba River a tributary of the Amazon It is perched on cliffs that rise 1 476 feet 450 m The city's location was a closely guarded secret and the mountains and river around it made it a natural fortress The Incas Centuries ago the valleys of Amazon tributaries such as the Apurimac and the Urubamba gave food and shelter to people called Incas The Incas built a great civilization that spread throughout the region In the 1500s the Incas were conquered by Spanish soldiers but many traces of their cities and culture remain V Inca craftsmen were skilled metalworkers This ceremonial mask is made of copper OOO The most famous Inca site is the city of Machu Picchu In the 1400s it was the home of the Inca rulers but was abandoned when the Spanish invaded In 1911 it was rediscovered by a visiting American historian Today it is one of South America's most important historic
