Floating Down the Amazon

Miles and miles from any town or city, branches of the Amazon river basin wind through untouched rain forests. The sunlight here beams through the leaves of a thousand different plant species, and the sounds from the forest are not dominated by a single group of voices. There is balance here, no artificial mechanism has unbalanced the natural order. Capybara wade at the river’s edge, tarantulas hide beneath the wide leaves, and flocks of brightly colored birds dive across the water’s surface. In the early morning the sky is grey, and the long canoe cuts through the water as a soft rain falls. We count the numbers and varieties of birds as the hunt for food before the heat of the day arrives. After any hour we jump into the cold river water and let the current take us back to the research station downstream. The current is strong but not dangerous. I lay on my back and watch the rain forest pass by. We all hope we will be visited by a pod of pink river dolphins, but we know how rare an encounter is. Despite the cold rain, we laugh and attempt to swim against the current. We don’t want the float to end any sooner than it has to. You cannot see the bottom of the river, the water is murky. But you don’t fear what lies beneath. There is a sense of belonging, that maybe can only be felt in the depths of a protected rainforest. As if the creatures below and above you feel that we do not intend to harm them. And it is that peace of mind, that the sun rises and the day begins.

~Sydney Lewark
SIT Ecuador: Comparative Ecology and Conservation