Hidden Jewel: Rafting Peru’s Rio Marañon, the Primary Source of the Amazon
This 10-part series documents a two week trip down the Rio Marañon that Wilderness Aware’s owners, Joe and Sue Greiner, their two sons, and nine friends took from December 22, 2015 through January 4, 2016.
The Rio Marañon is the primary source by volume of the mighty Amazon River. It starts high in the Peruvian Andes and flows down through a desert canyon that has been dubbed by river enthusiasts “The Grand Canyon of the Marañon”. It is the longest free-flowing river in the world. However, 20 proposed dam projects may destroy this amazing river, its ecosystems, and would displace the Peruvian villagers who have long called its shores home.
Written by Sue Greiner, this blog series documents our trip, and shines a light on this spectacular river in the hopes of raising awareness about the Rio Marañon so that it can be saved for Peru and the world. Join our adventure of a lifetime by following our blog series, which will post every week from March through mid-May, 2016.
To raft and/or help protect the Rio Marañon, contact SierraRios at sierrarios.org.
Rio Marañon #1: The Plane Ride to the Put-in at Chagual
It was still dark when the alarm began to buzz. But I was already awake. My excite…
Rio Marañon #2: Near Disaster at the Start
Rigging with unfamiliar equipment takes a while. But 12 out of 13 of our group…
Rio Marañon #3: Christmas Day
Our trip on the Rio Marañon was over Christmas break so that our college student kids…
Rio Marañon #4: Buying a Paddle
Joe and the boys and I have a tradition that started on our first overseas trip as a family…
Rio Marañon #5: Rapids and Eddies
A truly free flowing river has a unique character. Those of us from the United States…
Rio Marañon #6: Tupén Grande
We had spent the first half of the day blasting through huge standing waves in rapid after rapid…
Rio Marañon #7: The Pachamanca
We hiked from our camp on the beach back to the village at Tupén Grande for the evening…
Rio Marañon #8: Pools and Waterfalls
The river was coming up again. The morning we left Tupén Grande the water…
Rio Marañon #9: The Jungle and Tutumberos
January 1, 2016 was our last day in the Grand Canyon of the Marañon. The original plan was…
Rio Marañon #10: Dams and Regrets
Mid-morning on New Year’s Day, we arrived at Amazon Cavern, which is reminiscent of…
