Qualla: Orinoco https://qualla.com/orinoco en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:13 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/d/9/s/b/orinoco-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: Orinoco https://qualla.com/orinoco Orinoco: Introduction https://qualla.com/orinoco/ Photo credit No machine-readable author provided. Jesús Rincón assumed (based on copyright claims)., CC BY-SA 3.0. In 1988, the Irish singer Enya released "Orinoco Flow" and the river's name became a melody most people could hum but few could locate on a map. The real Orinoco is no lullaby. It is one of the great rivers of the world -- South America's third largest by discharge, draining a basin of more than 880,000 square kilometers across Venezuela and Colombia. Its waters run in three colors: the black of tannin-stained tributaries, the white of sediment-heavy Andean runoff, and the clear green of streams filtering through ancient sandstone. Where these waters converge, they create one of the most biologically rich river systems on Earth.

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Image: No machine-readable author provided. Jesús Rincón assumed (based on copyright claims). | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Mon, 09 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/9/s/b/orinoco-wp/d9sb-orinoco-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Orinoco: Three Colors of Water https://qualla.com/orinoco/ Photo credit Ali jose, CC BY-SA 3.0. More than 1,000 fish species have been recorded in the Orinoco basin, with roughly 15 percent found nowhere else. The dominant orders -- Characiformes and Siluriformes -- account for over 80 percent of freshwater species. Among the more famous residents are the black spot piranha...

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Image: Ali jose | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Mon, 09 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/9/s/b/orinoco-wp/d9sb-orinoco-three-colors-of-water.mp3 0:06 2 full Orinoco: Iron Mountains and Black Gold https://qualla.com/orinoco/ Photo credit No machine-readable author provided. Milito assumed (based on copyright claims)., CC BY-SA 3.0. In 1926, a Venezuelan mining inspector exploring near the Orinoco Delta stumbled onto one of the richest iron ore deposits in the world, on a mountain south of San Felix called El Florero. Full-scale mining began after World War II, driven by a partnership between Venezuelan firm...

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Image: No machine-readable author provided. Milito assumed (based on copyright claims). | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Mon, 09 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/9/s/b/orinoco-wp/d9sb-orinoco-iron-mountains-and-black-gold.mp3 0:06 3 full Orinoco: The Rarest Reptile in the World https://qualla.com/orinoco/ Photo credit Public domain. The Orinoco crocodile is one of the rarest reptiles alive. Its entire wild range is restricted to the middle and lower Orinoco basin, where it inhabits the river's main channels and tributaries. Hunting in the 20th century nearly exterminated the species -- crocodile leather was ...

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Image: Public domain

]]> Mon, 09 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/9/s/b/orinoco-wp/d9sb-orinoco-the-rarest-reptile-in-the-world.mp3 0:06 4 full Orinoco: The River as Arena https://qualla.com/orinoco/ Photo credit Rei2Rey, CC BY-SA 3.0. Since 1973, the Internacional Rally Nuestros Rios son Navegables has sent powerboats on a 1,200-kilometer circuit through the Orinoco, Meta, and Apure rivers -- the longest fluvial rally in the world, with boats averaging 120 miles per hour across waters that are also home to pir...

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Image: Rei2Rey | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Mon, 09 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/9/s/b/orinoco-wp/d9sb-orinoco-the-river-as-arena.mp3 0:06 5 full