Log in
Join travelers community
Your Profile
Logout
Source of the Amazon River identificated - 1996
Source of the Amazon River identificated - 1996
Jacek Pałkiewicz2006-06-18 21:57:19
Displayed times (last time: )
www.palkiewicz.com
At a time when hundreds of satellites explored the surface of our planet, the ocean depths and outer space, nobody knew exactly where the King of Rivers was born.
The camp goes up little by little and, waiting for supper we gather around the fire to recount the journey. I observe the restless faces of my associates and I study Admiral Guillermo Faura, a man over seventy who has surprised everyone, including himself. He has climbed as high as 4.800 meters above sea level. Some months ago in Lima, we had clearly agreed on his participation on this expedition as long as he quit if he experienced any health problems.
It is generally easier to gain my criticism than win my praise. As I always expect the most from everyone, when someone makes an excellent contribution, I regard it as normal. Nevertheless, today I must congratulate don Guillermo. I am glad that he was part of this group of experts representing the three countries participating on this endeavor particularly because of his profound knowledge of the matter which has brought us here. Faura, former Minister of the Navy, is the author of the only major hydrographic study on the Amazon river and we have come here to find, in a geographically sound manner, the true original source of the most gigantic river on earth.
THE EXPEDITION
It is cold, very cold. The warm soup gets cold in less than a minute. It seems that the wind seeps through our bones. Around us 'there is an arid world, wild and with very little vegetation, a great wavy extension called puna, which in Quechua means barren land, locked between the imposing chain of mountains of the central Andes.
We are presently located 200 kilometers from Cuzco, the ancient capital of the Inca Empire, and equidistant from Lake Titicaca and the Pacific Ocean. The tent protects us more from the wind than the cold. As it is taking me a while to fall asleep, I once more go over in my mind the beginning
...
See photographs from:
Peru Gallery
