The Amazon rainforest is the biggest forest in the world and is also the last big space covered with tropical plants and animals. Travel through the forest can be difficult, and a guide or a river tour are the best options to see the natural wonders of the rain forest.

The largest part(60%) of the Amzon Rainforest is located in Brazil covering almost half of that country.

When the Old World explorers reached the Americas they were all looking for gold, silver and gems. The Portuguese explorers that colonized Brazil believed that somewhere in that huge forest they would find the "Eldorado", an entire city made of gold. This hoax came along with the myth that the Eldorado was guarded by the women warrior race of the "Amazons".

Expeditions started to go up the Amazon River trying to find the lost city of Eldorado. There was a race to find the gold before the Spanish and French arrived, and found it on their own. Of course they never found the Eldorado or the Amazons, but the name for this forest was set.

© 2006 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)