I Found the Source of the Worlds Greatest River

On New Year's Eve of 2025, I found a puddle of water at over 16,500 feet of elevation in the mountains of Peru. And then I took a sip from it. By doing so, I may have been one of the only people alive today to drink from the very beginning of the most incredible river on earth. And then I almost got struck by lightning. But first, it's important you understand how I got here. I was in Cusco over the holidays with some friends. I needed a car, but in typical Nolan fashion, I had not planned anything in advance. All the car rental companies were sold out. So I decided to fly to Arequipa, pick up a rental car there, and drive it back to Cusco. This is the new whip. Arequipa is on the eastern side of the Andes. Cusco is on the west. As I looked out of that plane window, I realized something. At some point on this trip, I would drive over a high point in the Andes Plateau where the water stops flowing west into the Pacific Ocean and starts flowing east into the Atlantic. I was amazed to learn this point lies less than 150 miles from the Pacific, yet an astounding 1,800 miles from the Atlantic. And out of the unbelievably complicated Amazon River drainage, the longest tributaries of it begin right where I was headed. I would be following along an immense canyon carved by the Apurimac. The Apurimac River is widely accepted as the longest tributary of the Amazon, and many regard it to be the Amazon River itself. Its landscapes often resemble the most spectacular parts of my home in the American Southwest. All my research led me to become convinced that the source of the Amazon is the source of the Apurimac. Surprisingly, after extensive searching, I could find no information on where the Apurimac began. Not a single trail report or picture of it anywhere. So I followed the stream on Google Earth as high as it can go until I arrived at its end in this immense, colorful basin high in the mountains. It looked very hard to get there, but with a little bit of luck, I thought it just might be possible. So I told my friends in Cuzco I wasn't coming, and I drove to the most remote area I have ever been to try to find the source of the Amazon River. Remote doesn't even begin to describe where we are right now. There's a lot of mines around here. This is a mineral-rich area. I had to sign in with the mining company to get through the gate. I asked him, ¿Más turistas aquí? And he said, no, tú es primero. I also asked him, ¿Cuántos turistas a año? And he laughed and replied, cero. Of all the obstacles along this trip, this was the one I was most unsure of. It's really amazing that they let me come through here. I wasn't sure if they were going to. We're at the top of the Andean Plateau. Literally the tippy-top of one of the tallest plateaus in the world. I'm not taking any chances. I'm bringing rain jackets, puffy jackets. A thunderstorm could roll into this place and turn it from a baking hot, ultra-high UV kind of day to freezing cold, snowing in minutes. There's these remains of rock walls everywhere. It's a shelter against the elements for people. Humans have been up in these high-altitude mountains since before 13,000 years ago. For the exact same reason, many are still here. The vicuñas, alpacas, and llamas thrive in these environments. Their fur and meat was and still is essential for survival of the people of the Andes. It's really like a moonscape up here. I think I just saw a lizard. I didn't know they lived up here. I burrowed into this hole. Huh. I never knew lizards lived at 16,000 feet of elevation. Shout out to the Leolamus lizard. It holds the record for the highest recorded elevation of any reptile by a significant margin, as it has been recorded at over 17,500 feet. There's no snow up here. It's because we're so close to the equator. I was really thinking this might be easy. I'm pretty dumb. Okay, I just realized something. I'm so... That was the drainage. We just walked through the headwaters of the Amazon. Here we are. Every drop of water that falls into this basin feeds into the beginning of this river, which then flows down, becomes what is known as the Apurimac, which is actually the Amazon. The Apurimac becomes the Amazon. It's a huge basin. The final little spot is right up there, where we're going to go. This is one of the greatest sources of life on planet Earth. The Amazon River has billions of sources, like an infinitely dividing tree or the branching structures within our lungs and veins. It is the most complicated and expansive river drainage in the world. Trying to pinpoint the exact location of where it begins is remarkably difficult and highly debated. The consensus usually returns that the Apurimac is the highest and longest tributary and therefore the place from which the water travels the greatest distance out to the Atlantic Ocean. Here's where it gets a bit complicated. When you look up where the Amazon begins, the results will point you towards the snow melt that comes out of the side of Mount Mismi. That snow melt forms a creek, which enters lower into the Apurimac River. It is a further and higher source of water in the Amazon River drainage. But the levels of that creek drastically fluctuate depending on the level of snowpack, so large parts of this stream can often go dry when the snowpack on Mismi melts late into the dry season, according to the notes of the research expeditions that have gone there, like McIntyre first and later Johnston. Therefore, it is only an intermittent source for the Amazon, not a constant one. So it's a bit of a distinction, and it's not to say one's right and one's not. They both can be kind of true. They both are technically beginnings of sources for the Amazon. The difference is, is that this one is the actual start to the year-round flowing water. So that other location is sacred, and it should be. And this one is too. Feels like alpaca poop. There's just vicuña tracks everywhere. The bottom of this basin is this really soft, fluffy volcanic ash. Volcanic soil is very nutritious for plants. So it seems fitting that the very beginning of the most biodiverse river on planet Earth starts in huge volcanic ash deposits. Wow, look at these piles of ash. Unreal. So far, the water here seems to be quite full of vicuña poop. Hopefully, there will be a pool big enough where I can get a true sip from the very source. It's unfortunate when I come to these type of places. I care about these type of places so much that when I come to them, I worry so much about the impact I might have about making a video on them. But then I remember that probably less than a mile downstream, there's massive industrial mining operations that are leaching heavy metals into the water. It reminds me that people like you and me are not the threat to beautiful places like this. In fact, we might be the only solution to save them. We live in a unique time in history where we all can actually do something to protect the beautiful parts of the world, like the one I am walking through now. And that's why I decided to work with my friends at Planet Wild for this project. Planet Wild is a community-based organization that is crowdfunding unique nature conservation missions. They already have over 20,000 members contributing every month to protect nature all over the world. I'm a member and I encourage you to become one as well. It helps me to know that I'm giving back to the beautiful places I love and explore. What I enjoy most about them is I get to see what my contribution accomplishes through monthly videos right here on YouTube. Like Mission 37 that was launched just this month that is helping restore wildlife corridors and forests of Brazil. Ecosystems that are deeply crucial to the health of the Amazon rainforest just downstream of where I am now. Anyone can join Planet Wild and contribute to their work on a monthly basis. That's why I encourage you to consider joining like I have. The first month is for free and you'll see the impact you'll be having in less than 30 days. Use my code POV3 at checkout or scan the QR code on your screen to join. And don't forget to check out their video about the wildlife corridors linked below for your next YouTube rabbit hole. Thanks Planet Wild. Okay the cloud density is definitely increasing and I just heard a clap of thunder. We got to get a move on. This is the entrance to the second basin. The river is still flowing. That means we got to get higher. We got to get to the real end of it. This little creek will one day become one of the biggest most powerful rivers in the entire world. I wonder how long it would take for one H2O particle to start here and end in the Atlantic Ocean. Would it take days, weeks, months, years? I'm guessing probably years. Barely even a trickle at this point but it's still running. I apologize for the heavy breathing. Actually no I don't. This is the highest elevation I've ever been and it's steep. I think it's one of the most monumental moments in my life so far to be here. Alright I don't hear any trickling up ahead. Okay that goes dry. This is dry. Wait a second. This my friends could be the highest pool of water in the entirety of the Amazon River Basin. We're claiming this is the final pool. Or should I say the first pool. If you were expecting a waterfall or something dramatic you will be sorely disappointed. You have to think of it in terms of the hydrology of this basin. There's just a little bit of rain that'll fall here and it'll kind of fall into the ground and slowly make its way underground until eventually enough of it accumulates it'll actually form a pool. Muy delicioso. I kind of can't believe I'm here right now. Pretty wild. The guy at the gate of the mining company told me I'm the first tourist to ever pass through. There's been many herders that have come through here. It's a very significant place for sure. And that's a pretty significant looking rain cloud coming in. I'm gonna make an offering with the coca leaves I got. Hopefully maybe one little tiny piece of particulate from the coca leaves I'll sprinkle in here will somehow one day make it out to the Atlantic Ocean. That'd be pretty incredible. Leaf of the coca plant. Peruvian handcrafted. I gotta work on that one a little bit. Big scary cloud coming in. Time to go. It's so hard to go uphill right now but I gotta get back to the car. All right we found one pool on the side of this ridge. It's higher. I was hiking along the ridge and I noticed what looks like a seep. And sure enough this might be the highest point of the Amazon River. Thank you beautiful river. It's a privilege to be here. Yeah we've made our offering. I'm taking my sip. I'll take one more. Oh that one was good. It was almost minty. Beautiful, beautiful. And I'm sure there's other pools elsewhere in this valley. Just sort of the whole thing all together is what I'm here for. Thank you for the life you provide to trillions of organisms. May you someday be as healthy as you were thousands of years ago. So I'm currently hugging the side of this cliff. If that storm hits us I'll be able to find a place to take shelter. Pretty intense right there. Clear everywhere else. Pretty intense right there. Right where we're going. All right it's definitely coming our way. We are gonna take shelter. It's not too bad huh? The silence in the air is uh pretty incredible. And all I hear is these distant thunder. I was now undoubtedly witnessing the truest source of the Amazon. Wherever the rain clouds go so does the river's beginning. In a story I feel I have heard repeated countless times in recent years. I've learned from locals in the coming days of how much the rivers have run low intermixed with brief periods of heavy flooding. I'm not so sure anymore. I'm kind of playing cat and mouse with this cell. Clouds are pushing this way. Clouds this way are clearing up. I think it's blowing that way. All right I think we're gonna go for it. They're all blowing that way. We got a big patch of blue behind us. So I found a gap and I'm going for it. This is not the type of place you want to get stuck in a thunderstorm on these barren mountaintops. Okay big lightning strikes in the valley. We're so close to the car. Car's right there. I saw a big big lightning strike. Time to get down. I'll stop filming and then there'll be a huge lightning strike. That was the last obstacle of the day. Look at this thundercloud. That's rolling in from the west where we came from. That was an intense day. My car actually slid into a ditch. I didn't even show you that part. That was pretty sweet. We got three wool blankets. Thatched roof. This is going to be the best room I'll ever stay in. It's really beautiful how everything is handmade. What to watch next? Check out Planet Wild's remarkable story about restoring wildlife corridors in Brazil. You can find linked right here. Thanks for watching and have a good day.