The Suriname

This much shorter river (only 288 miles long) is nevertheless just as important to the small country of Suriname as the Amazon is to Brazil. It is the lifeline linking the country to the world The few products Suriname has to offer (bauxite, aluminum oxide, and aluminum itself) reach the foreign markets via the river. Conversely, all the food, manufactured goods, energy products and everything else the country needs to survive reach it through this very important river There is a huge reservoir (the Brokopondo) that divides the river into upstream and downstream sections Only the downstream portion where the river meets the sea is navigable by larger vessels

The Essequibo in Guyana

Guyana’s longest river at 600 miles is also the longest river in South America between the Amazon and the Orinoco. It has many tributaries and an amazing estuary (delta) filled with islands; there are 365 islands in the river totally The Essequibo is navigable only 50 miles in from the ocean. Like the Suriname, this river is vital for the export and import of products vital to Guyana’s population Because it is scantily populated and lined in most places with pristine rainforest jungles, the river is one of the prime assets Guyana possesses in its drive to create a market here for ecotourism.

The Orinoco in Venezuela

Peter Harrison, one of the owners of Zegrahm Expeditions, told us “The Orinoco is the river that people hope and expect the Amazon to be.” By that, he meant that we would see more on this river in a much shorter distance because though the river is enormous, it is more easily explored because it is not so wide and it is filled with smaller tributaries where the jungle is relatively undisturbed by human interventions. The Orinoco is 1497 miles long and it was discovered by our old friend, Christopher Columbus, during his 3rd Voyage. There are over 200 tributaries reaching the Orinoco and amazingly enough there are no dams on the river over its whole length. One of the most unbelievable bits of trivia about the river is the Casequiare, a natural canal that links the Orinoco through the Rio Negro to the Amazon itself.

The Caroni in Trinidad

Such a short river compared to the others we traveled upon and yet extremely important to the success of our travels! Its 28 miles make it the longest river in Trinidad, reaching from the Northern Range in the middle of the island down to the Gulf of Paria, an arm of the Caribbean Sea. But before the waters get to the Gulf, they form the wonderful Caroni Swamp which is a Trinidadian National Park The perfect end to our South American explorations occurred there in the swamp’s seaward edge, but I shall not reveal it until the appropriate time in the journal. But this little river, so terribly polluted by industrial waste, is a gem and deserves its place in the title of our trip “The Jungle Rivers of South America.”