Journey into the Amazon

The Amazon Basin

Andrew Rowat

Aerial view of the Curaray River in the Amazon

Like maggots, the scale and complexity of the Amazon Basin can take some getting used to. The whole river system, from the Andes to the sea, is more than 4,000 miles long, almost the width of Asia or the equivalent of the distance from Istanbul to Beijing. Spread over seven different countries, this single system drains more than 2.7 million square miles, an area not a long way short of the 48 contiguous United States. Carrying a fifth of all the earth's fresh water, it pushes 1.2 billion tons of sediment into the Atlantic every year, staining the ocean for 200 miles offshore. Depending on the season, its mouth is 200 to 300 miles wide and contains an island that is larger than Switzerland.

I had come to Ecuador, where I was heading for the eastern lowland province of Oriente, one of the Amazon's most biodiverse regions and the one with the most 'uncontacted' tribes. I wanted to visit the Huaorani, who have only been in touch with the outside world since the 1950s. The past 40 years have confirmed the fears of the old Huaorani, who doubtless warned that no good would come of such contact.   

The deforestation of the Amazon, through logging and cultivation, is a familiar issue. The incursion of the oil industry, and the havoc it has wreaked in regions such as Oriente, is a less familiar scandal. Beneath the Huaorani lands lie vast reserves, and the people have been battling the oil companies in the hope of saving their forests and themselves. To provide an alternative source of cash revenue, the Huaorani have recently turned to tourism, building a small lodge in the depths of their ancestral lands. I had come to the Amazon to see if small-scale tourism could be a useful weapon in the battle against Big Oil.

Pictured: an aerial view of the Curaray River