I sailed down the Amazon river and witnessed the magnificence of its wildlife 

A cruise through the world’s largest rainforest is an experience like no other, writes Sean Sheehan

The Amazon is home to one in ten of all species on Earth

Though not predisposed to liking cruises — aghast at images of ocean-crossing mega-ships in excess of 6,000 berths — my prejudice wilts when experiencing the primordial wilderness of the Amazon on a boat holding no more than 40 passengers.

Geographers quibble over whether the Amazon or the Nile is the longest river in the world. It depends on where the river’s source is located, and for a long time the Amazon was deemed to begin at the confluence of Ucayali and Maranon rivers, upstream of the town of Iquitos in northern Peru.