Our third day in the Amazon began at the confluence of the three rivers, Marañon, Ucayali, and Amazon just a few miles from Nauta and on the border of Pacaya-Samiria National Reserve.
The Amazon River and Its Tributaries
The Ucayali is the main headwaters of the Peruvian Amazon and when it meets with the Marañon, it becomes the Amazon. Originating in the Andes not far from Cusco, the popular tourist destination for visiting Machu Picchu, the Ucayali travels 994 miles before it reaches the confluence next to Pacaya-Samiria National Reserve.
The Amazon, with its 1,100 tributaries, is the largest river in the world by volume and the first or second longest in the world (disputed with the Nile). The massive river was initially known to Europeans as the Marañon and later became known as the Rio Amazones in Spanish and Portuguese.
At the confluence, the waters of the rivers are two different colors. The Amazon, full of sediment, is a milk chocolate color while many of the tannin filled tributaries are black and lack sediment and nutrients. Accordingly, settlements in the Amazonian Jungle are found near the sediment filled water and fishing takes place in the blackwater.
WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE!