2009 01 10 The Amazon River and Macapa, Brazil

Scenic Cruising the Amazon River – Macapa, Brazil. The Amazon Basin is one of Earth’s most fascinating regions – and it is HUGE! Eight South American nations depend on the massive ecosystem which supplies a fifth of the planet’s freshwater. The Amazon rainforest is habitat for the world’s most diverse array of birds and freshwater fish and more than 1/3 of the world’s species live in the basin.

Struggles between conservationists and developers continue and scientific evidence of the detrimental effect of rainforest destruction on the planet is clear. The ecosystem has been subjected to illegal logging, slash-and-burn agriculture, and other degrading effects that consume the forest at a rate of more than 9,000 square miles each year. As human population in the area continues to increase the struggle for conservation is nearly as delicate as the region itself.
The Amazon River delta is littered with islands, the largest the size of Switzerland. Our ship, the Prinsendam will cruise up the Amazon as far West as Manaus, then we will reverse course and make stops through the region until we again enter the Atlantic Ocean.

When we reach Manaus we will pick-up Amazon River Pilots who will come on board and guide us over the coming days. We are being asked to conserve water while we are in the Amazon. You see, the ship makes freshwater from saltwater and we are not able to use the water from the Amazon as it contains too much silt and other organisms that cannot be “cooked” out of the ship’s system.

We’ve also been advised that due to the occasional burning in the forests that we may notice a burning smell in and around the ship – they want us to know that it’s not the ship!

The city of Macapa, the “Middle of the World” is capital of the State of Amapa on the Amazon River. Located only 214 miles from Belem, it is accessible only by boat or plane. The city lies exactly on the Equator, at zero degrees North and has a monument to this known as Marco Zero. The City boasts that half of it is located in the Northern Hemisphere and the other half is in the Southern Hemisphere. Macapa has a equatorial climate, a type of tropical climate in which there is no dry season. Macapa has a Tropical Rainforest, but the soil is poor because the high rainfall (between 67 to 78 inches annually) tends to leach out the soluble nutrients. An old fortress is now a regional museum and nearby there is a market for artisans to sell crafts.