MASON CITY – The 2013-14 Travel and Adventure Film Series begins with “The Amazon: A Discovery Voyage Along the Great River Sea” at 2:00 p.m. on Sunday, October 13 in the North Iowa Community Auditorium, located on the North Iowa Area Community College (NIACC) campus.
The 2013-14 Travel and Adventure Series is sponsored by the Mason City Noon Kiwanis and NIACC.
Venture far up the least inhabited river in the Amazon Basin: The Rio Negro. With award-winning filmmaker Marlin Darrah you will explore areas very rarely visited and seek out the mysterious life of the wilderness that stirs in the forest and in the heart of wild nature. This trip explores some of the most untouched rainforest in the entire Amazon.
You will see creatures almost never seen. The journey is rather like being in a time machine in that you are able to visit places that have not changed for millions of years.
Visit several kinds of forest including the strange and beautiful flooded forest known by Amazon Indians as the Igapó. Orchids and bromeliads cling to the limbs of overhanging trees, which are also home to many fishing birds and iguanas.
We will also explore the other two kinds of rainforest of the Amazon: the tall terre firme forest and the fantastically rich varzea forest. We will see amazingly colorful birds, magnificent rainforest trees draped with vines and carpeted with orchids, and occasional monkeys chattering and cavorting in the tree branches. The rainforest in this area has very unique plants and animals. Swim off deserted beaches in water as pure and clean as rainwater and be treated to vistas of wild rainforest stretching as far as the eye can see.
Follow the filmmaker into the rainforest to observe magnificent plants of every imaginable shape and size. You will watch and listen to the exotic calls of birds and mammals near the shaded forest trails.
At night, the filmmaker explores the river’s edge with flashlights to see caiman, close relatives of crocodiles. Their eyes have a reddish glow in reflected light. The Brazilian Amazon has few cities and the vast region is still almost entirely covered with primitive tropical forest. For part of this exciting program, you travel up the Rio Negro River. At its confluence with the Amazon River, it has over three times the volume of the Mississippi. It is the second largest river in the world—second only to the Amazon River itself.
Beyond the tangle of vines and limbs along the river banks are hundreds of thousands of square miles of primitive forest where the forces that shape plant and animal evolution continue on as they have for millions of years. Though large forest animals are usually wary enough to stay hidden, one terra firme resident that insists on being heard is the largest primate in South America, the howler monkey. At dusk, different tribes growl to one another and their howls echo across the trackless forest from stream to river to hill.
Another important feature of the program will be visits to the homes of deep forest settlers. You will visit with them and learn what their lives are like, living on the edge of this vast trackless forest.
The program comes to a close with a visit to the fascinating jungle city of Manaus. Famous for its colorful harbor filled with huge riverboats, and the massive daily open-air market – filled with energetic local people displaying an incredible range of huge river fish, tropical fruits, unique jungle handicrafts and potent herbal medicines.
The 2013-14 Travel and Adventure Film Series is shown in the North Iowa Community Auditorium. These films appeal to a wide audience of travelers. Beautiful scenery, out-of-the-ordinary locations, various cultures and people are depicted throughout the films. Tickets are only $5 for adults and $3 for students. Season tickets are available for $20 saving you a single price of admission. Tickets may be purchased at the door
