Agua es la vida

Water is life.

It's a refrain I'd harped on countless times in environmental education classes the last few years, trying to motivate Ecuadorian youth to care about their environment.

But, in reality, the waters of the Amazon River basin were the lifeblood of our journey.

Its constant flow has been a force propelling us toward the Atlantic Ocean. But not just in the sense of physical movements. It has been the source of our drinking water (we filtered it well, don't worry), shower water (hard to believe, but we occasionally bathed), cooking water, dishwater, and water to flush the toilets.

After three weeks on The River, we came to the realization that we had never actually been in The River.

We knew that we couldn't adequately complete our source-to-mouth journey on The River without immersing ourselves in its waters.

I have spent countless hours staring at the vast waterway, wondering what goes on beneath its opaque surface. I'm sure there's a wonderful world under The River, with Sebastian the Crab and his friend Flounder Fish telling me that life is better Under The River. (…Or maybe it is Pedro the Piraracu and Dalia the Dolphin around here.)

So what did it feel like?

Forty minutes from Santarem is the white-sanded beach town Alter do Chao, often referred to as the Caribbean of the Amazon. Although its beaches were hidden under a few meters of flooded forest, the swimming holes were as accessible as always.

We arrived there on a particularly steaming Amazonian afternoon, which made the dive into its turbid waters that much more refreshing and rewarding.  We frolicked and splashed about in the flooded forest for a few minutes, jumping off tree limbs and scouring ourselves with white sand.

That plunge helped put The River into perspective (as well as wipe off a few layers of sweat). I have spent several days in my hammock, mesmerized by its volume and length. But upon dipping into its warm waters, I realized that, if it weren't for the jungle plants and worries about fish swimming up our urethra, we could have been in any freshwater body of water.  At some points, it seems more lake than river while at others it is more port city than the greatest point of biodiversity in the world.  But whatever it is, it felt great to experience The River in a new light.