We stepped through the archway and were immediatly
surrounded by space...the Universe kind,
not just empty space. I thought back to our Cosmic String trip and the small Universe that danced around
the campfire right before we were to time
travel. I could tell by the feeling in my
gut that were going tripping again. "How did that little girl know....about
us and ...well you know, our talents"?
I asked Mela. "I don't know Tory, but I do know that we keep stumbling
upon events that are much bigger than we
can understand". Craftie and Twisted
nodded, and I felt a shiver run through my
body. "I think we should focus our minds on
the Amazon in the year 2008 and go for it",
suggested Twisted. Looking around and not
seeing the archway any longer, Mela and Craftie
finally agreed. "Tory" Mela asked.
"I am just along for the ride, sweet
Mela - let's go for it", I answered. For anyone who has not shape-shifted and
ridden a Cosmic String,
it really cannot
be described. It
is not so much an unpleasent
experience, but one
that confuses the mind
and the spirit -
and this time was no different.
a Fog...LIGHT...MORE
LIGHT......SPARKLES......and
whoooooooooooosh.
The four of us stood somewhere
in the vast realms
of the Amazon. "That
is a beautiful sunset",
I said as we
gathered our thoughts
and made sure no parts
had fallen off our
Avatars. We decided to
camp there for the
night.
"We are never going to find Dark Embrace",
I whispered to Mela
as I snuggled close.
"In this HUGE
forest? "It
is impossible".
"Do not worry,
Tory, we will find
her",
Mela answered, and
I fell to sleep as
the
night creatures of
the Amazon began
their
symphony.
I dreamed of when I was a small schoolgirl
and I read a big
book with lots of glossy
pictures of wild
animals and colorful birds.
It taught about the
rainforests, the Amazon
River, and all the
wild and amazing animals
that lived there.
The Amazon seemed so far
away and important
just because it was soooo
kewl and pretty.
As I grew older, I learned
that Amazonia, and
all rain forests really,
are so much more
than just a glossy picture
of a colorful green
lizard in a childrens
book. Engulfing more than 2.5 million square miles
of waterways, rainforest,
and a wealth of
other natural resources,
the Amazon Basin-also
known as Amazonia-forms
the world's most
diverse ecosystem.
Untold numbers of species - millions of different
kinds of plants and animals - live in Amazonia, bound in infinitely complex, intimate
interrelationships, the knotted threads of
which scientists are just beginning to unravel Through the marvels of modern engineering
we have explored
distant planets,
but remote
areas of Amazonia
remain unknown, perhaps
never to be seen
by human eyes. Today, many scientists are examining rainforest
plants looking for new treatments for cancer
and other diseases. Learning how indigenous
peoples use various plants for medicinal
purposes will greatly aid this effort. Unfortunately,
much of this traditional knowledge may already
have been lost with the extinction in the
last few centuries of hundreds of Amazonia's
ethnic groups. See Into the Lung on Page 3
The knowledge taken from Amazonia is simply
amazing. Scientists
have catalogued:
2500 species of fish
1500 species of birds
1800 species of butterflys
200 species of mosquitos
4 types of big cats
50,000 species of
higher plants
2,500 tree species But that is just what has been catalogued.
So little of Amazonia
has been studied simply
due to the vastness
of this natural paradise.
The Amazon Forest holds some and 50,000 plant
species (30 percent
of all plant species.
while The Amazon River - the world's largest
water basin, covering a total extension of
With its striking appearance, unique features
and cool name, the poison dart frog is one
of the most interesting - and dangerous -
species in the Amazon. While many other frog
species have brown or green skin, which helps
camouflage themselves in the wild, the poison
dart frog uses its brightly colored skin
to warn predators that it is "unfit
to eat." The frog's skin also serves
another protective function - it secretes
a dangerous poison that can paralyze and
in some cases kill predators.
Jaguars are the largest of American cats
and are strong swimmers and climbers. Once
found from the southwestern United States
to northern Argentina, jaguars today inhabit
only the rain forests of Central and South
America. A legendary symbol of Latin America's
tropical rain forests, the jaguar requires
large areas of natural habitat to survive.
The third largest cat in the world, jaguars
may weigh more than 300 pounds and grow to
more than eight feet in length, including
a two-foot tail. Most countries with jaguar
populations legally protect them, but hunting
and habitat loss continue to be threats to
the survival of the species.
The 495,000 square miles of Amazonian rain
forest in Peru contain almost half of all
bird species found in South America, including
the scarlet macaw. Highly intelligent, macaws
mate for life and may live up to 70 years.
Their splendid plumage and commercial value
make them a popular species in the illegal
pet trade, which has devastated populations
of wild exotic birds. To stop this illegal
capture, WWF supports efforts to phase out
the import of wild birds to the United States
and encourages captive breeding as one alternative
to illegal capture.
The howler monkey's large vocal organ is
hidden by long black hair on its throat.
Using their loud, distinctive call - which
can be heard up to two miles away -- howler
monkeys warn other animals away from their
territory. The howler monkey's diet consists
mainly of fruit, much of it not yet ripe.
The howler monkey lives in troops of 10 to
30 monkeys comprising both sexes.
approximately 2.3 million square miles -
discharges around
40,000 gallons of water
into the Atlantic
Ocean every second. The water volume flow of the Amazon River
equals 20 percent
of the joint volume
of
all rivers on Earth.
The biggest fresh water fish in the world
is found in the Amazon.
The pirarucu (paiche
in Spanish) can weigh
550 pounds, measuring
up to 8 feet in length. The Brazilian Amazon's Tumucumaque Mountains
National Park, the
first national park formally
established by the
government of Brazil in
2002 is the world's
largest tropical forest
national park and
the second largest national
park overall. The Jaú National Park, created in 1986,
is the second largest
tropical forest park
in the world, with
an area that is bigger
than the entire state
of Massachusetts
(8,772
square miles). Traditional logging methods end up causing
great waste. The
total number of trees
taken
down for each tree
actually extracted
can
be reduced significantly,
by almost 50 percent,
when
using appropriate logging management plans.
The vitória-régia, considered to be one
of the Amazon's symbols,
is the world's largest
flower. Some can
measure more than
6 feet
in diameter. The Amazon's largest animal is the manatee,
which can weigh half
a ton and measure
almost
10 feet in length.
The Amazon anaconda can reach 33 feet in
length. More than one third of all species in the
world live in the
Amazon, a giant tropical
forest with an area
that stretches more
than
1.5 million square
miles and is among
the
richest tropical
forests in the world.
High
rainfall, relatively
complex topography,
and varied soils
also contribute to
the variety
and abundance of
life within the forest.
The Amazon forest
has some 2,500 tree
species
(one third of the
world's tropical
woods)
and nearly 30,000
of Latin America's
100,000
plant species. A
large percentage
of this
remarkable region's
original forested
area
is still intact,
with lowland tropical
moist
forests, unique flooded
savannas dotted with
palm trees, and bamboo-dominated
forests
blanketing an area
the size of England.
Together
they support the
world's highest diversity
of freshwater fish,
birds, and butterflies,
as well as many other
kinds of organisms.
The Amazon is one of the last refuges in
the world for wide-ranging species such as
jaguars, harpy eagles, and giant river otters.
There is a lot of action in the treetops
as well: Southern two-toed sloths feed on
leaves and fruit high in the canopy; small
monkeys called pygmy marmosets make repeated
visits to certain trees, feeding on the sap
that oozes from holes they've bitten into
the bark; and saddleback and emperor tamarins
jump through the tree branches, while Goeldi's
monkeys leap from trunk to trunk. I awoke in the dark, with only the small
glowing embers of the fire offering me light.
I laid still and listened. I could hear the
all of the night creatures, mostly frogs
wooing possible future mates with songs that
only a frog could love.
I quietly got up, making sure not to disturb
Mela, and went to the fire to poke it with
a sick...kinda hoping the little Universe
would show up again. It never did, so I threw
some small twigs on it to shine a better
light on the clearing we had chosen to be
our bedroom for the night. Why is it the shadows feel the need to be
so scary? I swear, every one looked like
a wild beast, or some monster that thought
me a fine snack before dinner. I scanned
the dark jungle trying to see if anything
was getting ready to pounce on me. Nothing.
Just black...dark...night. No stars or moonlight
could shine through the canopy overhead.
We were really alone, I thought to myself.
No one knows where we are...heck, even we
do not know where we are. We could get gobbled
up and no one would ever know. I heard a small noise behind me. Just a footstep
of a noise. Like a shoe on a pebble. I froze
and listened. "Mela?" I quietly
asked in almost a whisper. No answer. I slowly
stood up from my fire-poking squat, still
afraid to turn around. "Mela"?
I asked again..."is that you?"
No answer. The shadows danced like ghouls on Halloween
as I slowly turned
around.
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We stepped through the archway and were immediatly
surrounded by space...the Universe kind,
not just empty space.
know Tory, but I do know that we keep stumbling
upon events that are much bigger than we
can understand". Craftie and Twisted
nodded, and I felt a shiver run through my
body.
Amazonia, bound in infinitely complex, intimate
interrelationships, the knotted threads of
which scientists are just beginning to unravel
Poison dart frog
Jaguar 
Scarlet Macaw 
Red Howler Monkey 
