Orinoco flow

he Orinoco is one of the longest rivers in South America at 2,410 km. Its drainage basin, an area known as Orinoquia covers 880,000 km², 23.7% in Colombia and the rest in Venezuela. Although its mouth in the Atlantic Ocean was discovered by Columbus in his third voyage (1498-08-01), its sources at the Cerro Delgado-Chalbaud, in the Parima range, on the Venezuelan-Brazilian border, at 1,047 m of elevation (02° 19′ 05″ N, 63° 21′ 42″ W ), were only discovered in 1951, 453 years later, by a joint Venezuelan-French team. The Orinoco course describes a wide ellipsoidal arc, surrounding the Guiana Shield; it is divided in four stretches of unequal length that roughly correspond to the longitudinal zonation of a typical large river: Upper Orinoco, 240 km long, from its headwaters to the rapids Raudales de Guaharibos, flows through mountainous landscape in a northwesterly direction Middle Orinoco, 750 km long, divided into two sectors, the first of which ca. 480 km long has a general westward direction down to the confluence with the Atabapo and Guaviare rivers at San Fernando de Atabapo; the second flows northward, for about 270 km, along the Venezuelan – Colombian border, flanked on both sides by the westernmost granitic upwellings of the Guiana shield which impede the development of a flood plain, to the Atures rapids near the confluence with the Meta River at Puerto Carreño, Lower Orinoco, 959 km long with a well developed alluvial plain, flows in a Northeast direction, from Atures rapids down to Piacoa in front of Barrancas Delta Amacuro, 200 km long that empties into the Gulf of Paría and the Atlantic Ocean, a very large delta (some 22.500 km² and 370 km at its widest). At its mouth it forms a wide delta that branches off into hundreds of rivers and waterways that flow through 41,000 km² of swampy forests. In the rainy season the Orinoco can swell to a breadth of 22 kilometres and a depth of 100 meters. Most of the important Venezuelan rivers are tributaries of the Orinoco, the largest being the Caroní, which joins it at Puerto Ordaz, close to the Llovizna Falls. A peculiarity of the Orinoco river system is the Casiquiare canal, which starts as an arm of the Orinoco, and finds its way to the Rio Negro, a tributary of the Amazon, thus forming a ‘natural canal’ between Orinoco and Amazon. The river is navigable for most of its length, and dredging enables ocean ships to go as far as Ciudad Bolívar, 435 km upstream. The river region also contains large tar sands which may be a source of future oil production. The Boto, or Amazon River Dolphin, is also known to inhabit the Orinoco River system.

n 1988 Irish singer Enya released the break-through single “Orinoco Flow” (which is often incorrectly referred to as “Sail Away,” a phrase repeated during the chorus). In 1998 a special edition 10th anniversary remix single was released. The song was highly popular in the early ’90s and was featured on many pop music compilations. The song “Out Of The Blue” was also released as “Portrait (Out Of The Blue)” on other albums. The division of syllables to follow the pattern of music may trick the listener into thinking that the song is written in Latin (as many Enya tracks are), but the lyrics are in fact English.

Let me sail, let me sail,
let the orinoco flow,
Let me reach, let me beach
On the shores of Tripoli.
Let me sail, let me sail,
Let me crash upon your shore,
Let me reach, let me beach
Far beyond the Yellow Sea.

From Bissau to Palau – in the shade of Avalon,
From Fiji to Tiree and the Isles of Ebony,
From Peru to Cebu hear the power of Babylon,
From Bali to Cali – far beneath the Coral Sea.

From the North to the South,
Ebudæ into Khartoum,
From the deep sea of Clouds

To the island of the moon,
Carry me on the waves
To the lands I’ve never been,
Carry me on the waves
To the lands I’ve never seen.

We can sail, we can sail…
We can steer, we can near
With Rob Dickins at the wheel,
We can sigh, say goodbye
Ross and his dependencies
We can sail, we can sail…

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