Dec 23

Other than a couple of lectures and the crossing ceremony the day was spent watching the scenery as we sailed up the Amazon.  At lunch there was "Neptune's BBQ" which featured grilled baramundi, dorade, river trout & salmon.  Here's an Amazon 101 lesson:

The Amazon isn't the world's longest; the Nile is 40 miles longer.  However it is the BIGGEST by far in volume.  About 3000 rivers & tributaries feed the Amazon and the Amazon Basin (which includes parts of Peru & Columbia) is the size of the Lower 48 US states.  10 of the world's 20 longest rivers feed the Amazon, some being over 1000 miles long.  The mouth of the river is 200 miles wide with an island in the middle which is larger than Switzerland.  The water volume pouring, up to 200 miles, out into the Atlantic is at an average rate of 7,100,000 cubic feet per second.  The main bodies of the river are a light brown, like coffee and a lot of cream and is primarily neutral in Ph.  However, some of the rivers running into it are acidic and clear to black and devoid of insect life and fish.  Where the different waters meet they don't blend for several miles and it's called "The Meeting of the Waters", photos of which will be posted when we reach them.  As they eventually blend it looks like milk & vinegar trying to mix.  There is an incredible amount of fish species, many are very strange looking and they are very tasty, particularly when grilled.  We should have some good photos of them when we visit the Manaus Fish Market (we leave the ship at 4:30am) in a few days.  There are 2 types of river dolphins, one of which looks like a small spinner or bottlenose dolphin.  The other, called "Boto" by the locals, is bubble gum pink with a long snout and a hump behind its head.  There are numerous species of flora & fauna in the Amazon basin and new ones are being discovered constantly.