In the presence of Prof. Bohumír Janský from the Faculty of Science at Charles University, Prof. Manuel Amaya, Dean of the Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism at the University of Chile, and H.E. Pavel Bechný, Ambassador of the Czech Republic to Chile, the panel exhibition "Amazon: A Quarter of a Century Since the Discovery of the Sources by Czech Expeditions" was inaugurated on November 5, 2024, at the Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism at the University of Chile. The exhibition will also be presented at Universidad Central and then transferred to Buenos Aires, Argentina.
During his two-week stay, Prof. Janský delivered two lectures at the university, one at the National Parks Administration of Chile, and one lecture for our compatriots at the residence of the Czech Ambassador. All these activities are part of the celebrations marking the 100th anniversary of the establishment of Czechoslovak-Chilean diplomatic relations.
Prof. RNDr. Bohumír Janský has been researching the springs of the Amazon since 1990, when he first worked as a university teacher at two Peruvian universities - San Marcos in Lima and San Antonio Abad in Cusco. During his time there, he met the eminent Peruvian geographer Prof. Carlos Peñaherrera, who helped him collect materials from previous expeditions that had searched for the sources of the Amazon in the 20th century.
In 1999, the "Hatun Mayu 1999" expedition took place, during which the Carhuasanta River was measured using geodetic methods and identified as the main source of the Amazon. In view of the doubts that appeared in the foreign press at that time, the Czech-Peruvian expedition "Hatun Mayu 2000" was organised, during which the lengths and catchment areas of three other mountain rivers in the source area of the Amazon were measured.
Based on the results of the two previous expeditions, it was concluded that the Amazon does not have a single source, but is a source area at the northern foot of the Cordillera de Chila where four mountain rivers - the Carhuasanta, Apacheta, Ccaccansa and_Sillanque - rise and form the Lloqueta River at their confluence. However, recent hydrological studies have again shown that the main source of the Amazon is the Carhuasanta River.
In 2008, for his many years of lecturing at Peruvian universities and for organising expeditions to the sources of the Amazon, the author received the highest state decoration for civilians, "For Extraordinary Merit", with the right to use the title "Comtur", from the President of Peru.