The Meeting of the Waters in the Amazon Rain Forest

Houston-based attorney Hugh M. Ray III serves as a partner at Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman, a law firm with offices around the globe. In his free time, Hugh Ray III enjoys traveling to destinations such as China, Patagonia, and the Amazon rain forest. 

When embarking on an adventure to the Amazon rain forest, most visitors begin in the city of Manaus, Brazil, an urban center deep in the jungle. The city of 1.8 million people is surrounded by more than two million miles of rain forest. 

In the early 1900s, the remote city was a global center for the rubber trade. Today, as the natural entry point to the Amazon jungle, Manaus is a hub for the eco-tourism industry.

Most river tours of the Amazon take note of the "Meeting of the Waters" just outside Manaus, where the Rio Negro and the Rio Solimoes meet. Instead of immediately forming one river, the dark, tea-colored waters of the Rio Negro and the sediment-filled muddy waters of the Rio Solimoes remain separate and flow side by side for about four miles. 

The rivers stay separate for several reasons. Each river has a different average temperature and speed. While the Rio Negro remains at approximately 82 degrees and flows at 1.24 miles per hour, the Rio Solimoes maintains a 71-degree temperature and flows at 3.7 miles per hour. The differing properties cause the rivers to remain separated until they finally join to form the Lower Amazon.