kleroux

If anyone is planning on visiting the Amazon, I suggest reading the book The River of Doubt by Candice Millard. Its a biography of an event in the life of Pres. Teddy Roosevelt. When he lost his last bid for office, he went to Brazil and decided to explore and run a tributary of the Amazon that had never been run before. Its the true story of this expedidition and reads like a real page turner. The author is a former editor of National Geographic Mag. and she writes interesting details about the Amazon itself.

msteacher

I second your reccommendation! While I was on an Amazon River cruise last summer, I read this book. There were a couple of times when we would encounter a certain animal or plant during the day, and then as I was reading at night, Teddy would encounter the same species. This book really enhanced the enjoyment of my trip! It's a great read anytime, but especially worthwhile if you visit the Amazon.

naturegirl510

Great! I am headed there and NEED some plane reading material! Will check it out!

realoc

I third that review... very good read...Teddy tackled it...

shillmac

Interesting, your recommendation. I'll definitely get that one and read it. I've been reading Path Between the Seas about the building of the Panama Canal (recommended by someone on this board). It's excellent reading for preparing to visit Panama and also has Teddy Roosevelt as one of the main players. He was quite a fellow, a naturalist really. Looking forward to the Amazon read. .and hope to get there one day! Thanks.

patlanta

There's a video about Teddy Roosevelt's expedition on the Amazon. It has been shown on PBS in the last year. Watch for it; they usually come on again.

I agree McCullough's Path Between the Seas is a great read before, during or after you visit the Panama Canal. Cruise ships show the video based on this book too, as well as sell the book.

jczinn

The River of Doubt is a great read. But in addition, I'd suggest reading Roosevelt's own writings on his journey, "Through the Brazilian Wilderness". Its in the public domain and can be downloaded free from the Gutenberg project here:

http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/11746

I read this before a trip to the Pantanal. Really fascinating to read it in Teddy's own words!

glover

Ooh, thanks for this book title - and for the link to the free book on Teddy's travels.

All this thread reminded me that I'd kept a cnn link some time ago on the canal that I'd meant to read. It looks so good/comprehensive - check it out:
http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/1999/panama.canal/ I think I'll post it for folks under a separate thread too.

Jill_Brazil

One of the best books to read before visiting the Amazon would be "Tales of a Shaman's Apprentice" by Dr. Mark Plotkin. Dr. Plotkin spent over 10 years living with tribes in the Amazon region learning the wisdom of the Shamans. You can read more about Dr. Plotkins work at www.ethnobotany.org

BTW: In 1992 Tweed Roosevelt (Great grandson of Teddy) re-enacted his great grandfather's expedition on the River of Doubt. I helped with travel arrangements for the expedition team. I believe a documentary film was made about Tweed's journey.

hopefulist

Consider "The Map Makers Wife" also - wonderfully researched and intriguing story about the group from France that explored the region in the 18th century seeking measurements to establish the size and shape of the earth.

http://www.amazon.com/Mapmakers-Wife...763&sr=8-2