Photography

The Amazon River

At nearly 4,000 miles long and running through seven South American countries, the Amazon River is the largest and longest river in the world.

For its 7,500 year existence, its waters have dictated trade and communication practices, impacting both the social and religious development of the surrounding Guyanese, Ecuadorian, Venezuelan, Bolivian, Brazilian, Colombian and Peruvian people, as well as its visitors. Encircled by the lush Amazonian Rainforest and inhabited by over 3,000 known fish species, the Amazon has been a natural resource coveted by powers near and far.

One fifth of the ocean's freshwater comes from the Amazon River. The drainage area of the Amazon River is (often called the Amazon Basin) in area nearly twice the size of India and about 40 percent of America. The headwaters of the river begin at a brook named Carhuasanta located in the Apurímac Region of Peru, fed by the winter snows of the mountain Mismi (elevation 5,597 m). Of all the possible river sources in the Amazon Basin, it is the snow melt of the Carhuasanta that was calculated by Loren McIntyre to be the furthermost water source from the mouth of the Amazon.

In THE ENCOUNTER you will have the opportunity to travel the river firsthand through Loren McIntyre's eyes - and ears - as you follow him on his first journey to the Amazon and his own encounter with the Mayaruna tribe.

Limited 12 performance engagement at the Curran April 25 - May 7.

Photo credits: Loren McIntyre, National Geographic, NASA.

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