Carry On Up The Amazon Quiz | People

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. After losing the 1912 election which former President of America undertook an exploration of South America?

Answer: Theodore Roosevelt

President Roosevelt decided not to run for re-election in 1908, instead endorsing William Taft as his successor. By 1912 he had fallen out with Taft and ran against him for the nomination. When he failed to secure it he decided to form the Bull Moose Party and ran as a third candidate. He came second in the election, beating Taft, but lost to Woodrow Wilson. Following his defeat, he decided to mount a South American exploration expedition. Whilst on this he contracted malaria, which left his health damaged. He died at the age of 60.

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2. What is the name of the Prussian explorer who discovered a current that ran down the west coast of South America?

Answer: Alexander von Humboldt

Alexander von Humboldt (1769-1859) was a Prussian explorer and naturalist. His main work took place in Latin America at the end of the 18th century. His party mapped considerable areas and made scientific observations. His main discovery was the cold Pacific current which is named after him.

3. In 1739, a Frenchman, Charles Marie de la Condamine, made calculations that determined a question that was of much interest at the time. What was it?

Answer: The length of the equator

La Condamine, a Frenchman of many talents, was the leader of an expedition which was sent to South America to take measurements at the equator. These measurements were to determine if the the earth was perfectly spherical by measuring the length of one degree.

Another team went to Lapland to make measurements there. That team found that the pole was flattened. La Condamine stayed in South American exploring the Andes and the Amazon for several more years.

4. Who is the first person known to have navigated the Amazon all the way to its mouth? He did this whilst on a quest to find the legendary "El Dorado".

Answer: Francisco Orellana

In 1541 Pizarro and Orellana set out to find El Dorado. After various problems Pizarro turned back but Orellana carried on downstream eventually coming to the Atlantic and the mouth of the Amazon.

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5. Which archaeologist first discovered the Nazca Lines?

Answer: Toribio Mejia Xesspe

The Nazca lines, which are line drawings representing birds, fish and other animals, are situated in Peru. Xesspe first saw them in 1927 when he was hiking in the foothills close by.

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6. Hiram Bingham is credited with the discovery of Machu Picchu. What nationality was he?

Answer: American

After working in the area for many years Hiram Bingham was led to Machu Picchu by a native boy. This was in 1911 and in subsequent years he revisited it several times carrying out a survey and excavations.

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7. Who was the Spaniard who travelled the Pacific coast of Peru and destroyed the Inca Empire?

Answer: Francisco Pizarro

Having discovered the existence of the Inca empire with all its treasure, Pizarro set about conquering it, which was accomplished both swiftly and brutally. He captured the king, Atahuallpa in 1533, and after slaughtering thousands of his men took the ransom that Atahualpa offered and had him strangled to death.
Pizarro founded the city of Lima but in 1541 he was assassinated there by one of Cortes' captains, out of greed for its treasures.

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8. In 1513, a Spaniard became the first European to see the Eastern part of the Pacific as he stood on a mountain in Darien. Who was he?

Answer: Vasco Nunez de Balboa

Balboa was a Spanish conquistador and explorer who, in 1511, founded the first European settlement in S. America, at Santa Maria de la Antigua del Darien. He headed an expedition through dense rain forest across the Isthmus of Panama and claimed all he could see for Spain.
Falsely accused of treason against Spain, he was beheaded in public in Acla, Panama, in 1519.

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9. A man born in 1454 in Florence undertook three voyages of exploration to the New World, and was the man after whom America was named. Who was he?

Answer: Amerigo Vespucci

Vespucci's first voyage took him to the mouth of the Amazon in 1499, and his second voyage took him within 400 miles of Tierra del Fuego. He was the first person to realize that North and South America were indeed a New World, because even Columbus believed that his own explorations had actually reached Asia.

Question by Invinoveritas

10. The Amazon continues to exert a special pull for explorers. Who, in 1925, disappeared, complete with his entire party, whilst searching for, what he described, as the 'Lost city of Z'?

Answer: Percy Harrison Fawcett

Fawcett spent many years exploring the jungle areas of Bolivia, Peru and Brazil searching for lost cities. In 1925 he and his entire party disappeared without trace. Search parties were sent but no trace of him was ever found.

Question by Christinap

Source: Author Christinap

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor Snowman before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

Carry On Up The Amazon Trivia Quiz

A brief look at explorers of the Amazon basin and other areas of South America.

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