The River: A Journey Through the Soul of the Amazon

The Amazon is the backbone of a basin measuring 6.8 million square kilometers, an area equivalent to the Middle East, and representing 16% of the planet's freshwater reserves. Every second, the colossal river releases 24 million liters into the sea: just two hours of this flow would be enough to supply New York—or São Paulo—for a year. But seven thousand kilometers before meeting the Atlantic, the giant is just a trickle, gushing from an underground spring fed by the glacier of Mount Quehuisha in southern Peru. Journalist Leonencio Nossa and photographer Celso Júnior traveled the length of the river, from its source, among gravel and rocks, to its mouth, the incredible meeting of the waters with the ocean, at the pororoca. In "The River," Leonencio recounts what he sees as he descends the Andes, passing through villages in the Peruvian and Amazonian jungles, until reaching Macedônia—the town closest to the mouth. Cold and thin air, dust and sunburn—there were many challenges along the way. A path marked by tributaries, subtributaries, creeks, paranás, lakes, and endless water. But, most importantly, by various riverside communities, their stories, desires, ambitions, and hardships. Reports of child sexual exploitation and pollution. "The important thing is to meet people, hear stories, and exchange experiences. After all, any debate about a river will never end, especially a river the size and type of the Amazon, considered new by experts, a course still in formation," explains Leonencio. Traveling through Peruvian and Brazilian territories, the author proves that observing the Amazon River isn't just about providing readers with hydrographic or tourist information. Following these waters, which take on different names along the way, is also about encountering the otherness of its peoples, the memory of a hidden America, lost or still unknown cultures.