Carry On Up The Amazon Trivia Quiz

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.

Question by Christinap

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.

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.

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.

Question by Christinap

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.

Question by Christinap

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.

Question by Christinap

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.

Question by Invinoveritas

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.

Question by Invinoveritas

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

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