Discovery ... Geoscientist Andrés Ruzo found the boiling Mayantuyacu river in Peru. Picture: Devlin Gandy/The Boiling River Project
HE was told it was a myth but Andres Ruzo located a “boiling river” in the Amazon that is so hot that it can cause third-degree burns or even death.
Ruzo, a geoscientist, first heard about the river from his grandfather who told him a story of how the Spanish went into the Amazon in search of gold. The story goes that the returned speaking of poisoned water, man-eating snakes and a river that boils from below.
Boiled alive ... Andres Ruzo has described how animals die when they fall into the river. Picture: Devlin GandySource:Supplied
Ruzo, a PhD student in geophysics, wanted to find the river for himself.
“I began asking that question. Could the boiling river exist?” Ruzo said in a recent Ted Talk. “I asked colleagues from universities, the government, oil, gas and mining companies, and the answer was a unanimous no.
“And this makes sense. You see, boiling rivers do exist in the world, but they’re generally associated with volcanoes. You need a powerful heat source to produce such a large geothermal manifestation,” he said.
However after telling his story at a family dinner his aunt told him that the river not only existed but that she had swum in it.
Found it ... Andres Ruzo’s aunt helped him located the boiling river. Picture: Google MapsSource:Supplied
Runzo discovered a six kilometres “boiling river” in the sacred geothermal healing site of the Asháninka people in Mayantuyacu.
At its widest, it is 25 metres and around six metres deep.
The water is hot enough to brew tea, and in some parts, it boils over.
“Dipping my hand into the river would give me third-degree burns in less than half a second,’ Ruzo said. “Falling in could easily kill me.”
Author ... Andres Ruzo has written a book in an effort to try and preserver the boiling river. Picture: SuppliedSource:Supplied
He explained that the river boils because of fault-fed hot springs.
“As we have hot blood running through our veins and arteries, so, too, the Earth has hot water running through its cracks and faults,” he said. “Where these arteries come to the surface, these earth arteries, we’ll get geothermal manifestations: fumaroles, hot springs and in our case, the boiling river.
Hot ... The river boils from the bottom. Picture: Devlin GandySource:Supplied
Runzo said he has seen animals fall in and get cooked alive.
“I’ve seen all sorts of animals fall in, and what’s shocking to me, is the process is pretty much the same,” he said. “So they fall in and the first thing to go are the eyes. Eyes, apparently, cook very quickly. They turn this milky-white colour. The stream is carrying them.
“They’re trying to swim out, but their meat is cooking on the bone because it’s so hot. So they’re losing power, losing power, until finally they get to a point where hot water goes into their mouths and they cook from the inside out,” he said.
Ruzo has written a book, The Boiling River: Adventure and Discovery in the Amazon, that publicises the river for the first time. He is hoping to try and save it as logging practices threaten its existence.
“In the middle of my PhD, I realised, this river is a natural wonder,” he said. “And it’s not going to be around unless we do something about it.”