Visitors from the Amazon basin countries are surprised that North Americans casually wade across streams or dive into lakes. This would be unthinkable in Venezuela, Brazil or Colombia. Every body of water in the Amazonian countries is full of dangerous creatures: leeches, piranhas, crocodiles, electric eels and a thousand others. Even trailing your hand in the water from a boat can be deadly. One of the most insidious of these creatures is the candiru. This is a tiny catfish that follows urine traces to the source—the urethra—and then enters the body where it immediately sets up housekeeping and child-rearing, causing its host a slow, agonizing death.
In the Amazon, it is likely that if you spend an afternoon you can discover a new species. Of the known species, there are thousands that are poisonous or deadly in some fashion. Brightly colored frogs supply the active ingredient in poison arrows and darts. There are thousands of species of snakes—most of them poisonous. There are poison plants, poison vines, poisonous turtles, poisonous lizards, poisonous snails and poisonous insects. There are large predatory cats, vampire bats and poisonous spiders that can bite through clothing and boots, killing you before you even know you have been bitten. There are indigenous cannibalistic people who regularly kill and eat visitors.
The most dangerous things in the Amazon are too small to see. The microbial life of the Amazon covers every surface, is delivered in every insect bite, is in the water, floats in the air and is in everything you eat. Microbial life can go from birth to maturity in as little as 10 minutes. This means that some parasitic bacteria go through more generations in a year than humans have in all their collective history. There are more species of microbes in the Amazon than there are visible species—a million times more. The most common of the dangerous parasites cause very serious diseases like yellow fever and dengue. There are several bacteria that cause diarrhea—which can be so dehydrating that it is life-threatening.
The dangers are real, but if you are careful a trip to the Amazon can be something you will remember forever. You should always wear long pants and long-sleeved shirts and a hat. Wash your face and hands frequently, eat only canned foods and drink only bottled water. Avoid the clouds of insects that hover over the river, and never go in the water. The precautions may seem extreme, but so is the Amazon. There is no place on earth where life is so lavish and exuberant. There is no other place where living things are so brightly colored. The orchids alone make the trip worthwhile.
