Along the Amazon

The Amazon is a huge river. I thought the Mississippi was big, but there is no comparison. At one point we were about 800 yards from one river bank and I could not see the other bank. It was that wide. Most of the river is edged by forest and jungle, but it is punctuated by grasslands, towns and homesteads, the occasional seemingly abandoned boat, and cities – huge cities with skylines. Some of these cities and settlements have no connecting roads. The Amazon is their highway. And you should see the boats traversing that highway. There are everything from cruise ships to families using dugout canoes with a couple inches freeboard.